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Book .2 _ 

CLCtf M g. 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 


























NATHANIEL E. HARRIS 
Former Governor of the State of Georgia 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


THE STORY OF AN OLD MAN’S 
LIFE WITH REMINISCENCES 
OF SEVENTY-FIVE YEARS 



J 


BY 


NATHANIEL E. HARRIS, A.B., LL.D. 
FORMER GOVERNOR OF GEORGIA 



THE J. W. BURKE COMPANY 
PUBLISHERS 
MACON GA. 

1925 







©Cl A 822781 

RPR -4 1925 / 



PREFACE 


This book was written at intervals ex¬ 
tending over at least twelve months. 

It was dictated to David J. Gibson, a young 
stenographer, who has been with me for sev¬ 
eral years, and has been a very faithful and 
efficient assistant in the preparation of the 
work. 

We selected for the dictation times when 
it was thought most convenient, and the rhet¬ 
oric suffered some from the off-hand way in 
which the facts were recalled and given to 
the stenographer. 

The consequence is the language is rough 
in many places and the subjects lack con¬ 
nection. 

It is given to the world simply as a record 
of events in the life of a very busy man and 
it should be read as a diary, in which no effort 
is made to do more than to present a plain 
unvarnished history of events that extended 
through seventy-five years. 

Only the hope that the narrative may be 
read by some one who will find enough good 
in it to justify the trouble of reading has 
made me publish it to the world. 

The Author. 

Atlanta, Georgia 
December, 1924 





























































* 

































. 



DEDICATION 


To my only living brother, Joseph Adison Har¬ 
ris, who was my playmate and friend in my boy¬ 
hood days, who shared my youthful joys and 
griefs and, when the great tragedy occurred in 
our lives, that sent us away from our childhood’s 
home to find a refuge among strangers, and a 
father’s eyes had closed on us forever, decided to 
take my place as the head of the family and keep 
the wolf from the door of the mother and chil¬ 
dren, while I went to college, and who, after 
coming back to the old homestead with the fam¬ 
ily, saw the children one by one go out from the 
household, nearly all to be buried in the grave¬ 
yard nearby, till last of all the mother followed, 
r —who has kept up the old homestead where the 
Harris name had belonged of right since the days 
of the Revolution; who has been loyal and loving 
and faithful to me through all the years that 
have gone, this book is affectionately dedicated by 

The Author. 



INDEX TO ILLUSTRATIONS 


Page 

Nathaniel E. Harris ...Frontispiece 

Hon. Landon C. Haynes .....12 

Alexander H. Stephens and his Brother, Linton .176 

Mrs. Fannie Burke Harris ..192 

Founder’s Loving Cup ....204 

Residence of Mrs. Harris at Hampton, Tenn.296 

The Spring and Lake in Rear of Summer Home .298 

Cottage of Mrs. N. E. Harris at Daytona Beach, Fla.300 

Going to the Inauguration .-..354 

Going from the Inauguration ......358 

Mrs. Hattie G. Harris ...382 

Governor Harris and His Office Force .'..388 

Governor Harris Signing the Prohibition Bill .....392 

On the Capitol Steps—Washington City .414 

“A Quarrel With the President Reconciled” ...420 

With the Georgia Cavalry at El Paso .....452 

General Walter A. Harris .......454 

Review of the Georgia Troops at Camp CottQn .456 

General Nash and Governor Harris .458 

General Nash, Governor Harris, General Harris .460 

Thanksgiving Day at El Paso ...462 

Statue of General Gordon ..484 
























CONTENTS 


Geneological Sketch ..-.-. 

Earliest Recollections .... 

Political ....-.. 

My Companions .— 

My School Days ... 

Some Distinguished Men . 

The War ... 

Last Scenes of the School Session at Martin Academy . 

An Incident of My Younger Days ...-. 

My War Experience ... 

Cooked up the Dish Rag .-. 

My First Fight .-. 

Indians as Swimmers .-. 

Transfer and Arrest .-. 

Incidents of Service with Jones’ Brigade, Longstreet and the Stone 

Mountain Monument, etc. 

General Jones on Foraging . 

Joining the 16th Virginia Cavalry .:. 

Wytheville and How it Feels to Kill a Man . 

Incidents on the March . 

Fight at Hanging Rock . 

The Battle at Newmarket .. 

Brigade Organization . 

Advance on Washington ....;... 

Speech at Barnesville, describing Gordon and Evans at Monocacy. 

Horses and Foraging in Maryland and Pennsylvania . 

Chambersburg .-.- 

Morefield ..... 

My Connection With the Second Corps .. 

Sickness in the Valley . 

Trepidation of the Soldier ... 

Soldiers that Can’t Stand Fire .. 

Carrying Orders Under Difficulties . 

Dodging the Bullets .. 

A Cannon Shot near Hancock, Maryland . 

Foraging in Old Virginia .. 

How I Was Dismounted .'.. 

How I Left the Brigade ..-. 

Coming Home ... 

The March Towards Johnson’s Army . 

First Warnings of Brownlow’s War . 

Applying for Pardons in East Tennessee .......... 

Reprisals in East Tennessee .,........ 

Journey to Georgia . 

How I Came to go to College ..— 

Aided by Dr. William H. Felton .. 

My Experience in Surgery . 

My College Career . 

A Commencement Oration ...„ 

Athletics ...... 

The Societies . 

My Graduation ..... 

Episodes ...:.... 

Going to Sparta ... 

Association with Mr. Stephens .. 

Commencing to Teach School . 

Newspaper Business ... 

Law Practice in Macon ....„.::.,. 

Prohibition and Technology . 

Difficulties in the Way ... 

First Commission ..... 

Subsequent Views on Tech ..,.;.. 

Law and Legislation .... 


Page 

... 10 

...' 17 

„ 21 
<-» 4 


26 
. 35 

39 
, 42 

43 

45 
. 47 
. 48 
. 52 
. 56 

60 
. 68 
. 70 
. 75 
. 78 
. 80 
. 83 
. 85 
. 86 
. 88 
. 91 
. 93 
. 94 
.100 
.101 
104 
.105 
.106 
.108 
.108 
.109 
.112 
.113 
.116 
.117 
.121 
.133 
.137 
.139 
.145 
.149 
.150 
.151 
.160 
.164 
.165 
.166 
.167 
.172 
.173 
,.175 
.183 
.195 
.202 
.206 
.217 
.222 
.227 
































































8 


CONTENTS 


Page 


Gubernatorial Successors .243 

Senator Brown’s Donation .246 

Refunding of the State Debt ...—.247 

Railroad Matters .251 

Finishing the Road . 258 

Major J. F. Hanson and his Career .268 

A Rainy New Year’s Monody .-.,..272 

Church Matters and General Conference .273 

The Vanderbilt Case .278 

The Judgeship .288 


My Partners, Walter B. Hill, Washington Dessau, and William B. Birch 301 


My Political Career Continued . 

The Canvass for Governor . 

The Campaign .. 

Chaingang Greeting . 

Progress of the Campaign ... 

My Reply . 

Incident at Kingsland ..*.. 

Convention Contest . 

Investigation and Martial Law Continued . 

Legislative Action and Prohibition . 

The Call of the Extra Session . 

Office Organization, etc.. 

Prohibition Legislation at First Called Session . 

Visits to the Presidents . 

My Sickness in the Governor’s Office ... 

Pardons .j. 

Women Allowed to Practice Law . 

Lynching . 

The Birmingham Reunion . 

Speech at Crawfordville . 

New Counties . 

Visitors who came to see and pay their respects to me . 

Glimpses of Work in the Governor’s Office . 

Work of Called Session . 

Dueling in Georgia . 

Calling out the National Guard. . 

The Draft .. 

The 31st Division, known as the Dixie Division . 

Data About 31st Division . 

Second Race for Governor . 

Mob at the Mansion . 

What Governor Dorsey Said About Prohibition . 

Governor Dorsey’s Inauguration . 

Statue of General Gordon . 

Mv Experience with the Judges .. 

The Dixon Will Case . 

The United States Judges . 

My Partnership with Mr. Hill .. 

Acting as President of the Georgia Tech ...!!! ’. 

Closing Address by Ex-Governor Harris . 

Colonel Gardner of the 31st Division . 

Offer of Farmers to Aid in Race for United States Senate 
A Visit to Mrs. Corra Harris and Reminiscences 
A Family Sketch—The Three Cousins 

The End . 

Appendix I—Veteran Asks Voters to Vote for Harris 
The New Pension Commissioner 

Appendix II—Revolution in Political Affairs- . 

Senators . 

Representatives . 

Appendix III List of Appointments Made by Governor Harris 


..304 

..326 

..331 

..333 

..334 

..335 

..340 

.345 

.359 

.371 

.379 

.387 

.391 

.404 

.422 

.426 

.433 

.433 

.434 

.436 

.437 

.437 

.439 

.444 

.449 

.453 

.463 

.469 

.471 

.474 

.481 

.482 

.483 

.483 

485 

.487 

493 

500 

.502 

506 

508 

511 

513 

516 

5°1 

523 

524 

528 

529 

530 
540 































































AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

COMMENCED AUG. 29, 1923 


npHE man who writes an autobiography takes a 
^ great risk. Things that would appear interest¬ 
ing to him may be quite the contrary to general readers. 

Besides, he subjects himself to much misconstruc¬ 
tion. The very fact that he writes his own life-his¬ 
tory shows that he imagines something has occurred 
in his life that will be of interest to others. If his 
achievements have contributed to the happiness of 
those around him, the record might be well. If, on 
the contrary, his life has had a selfish purpose through¬ 
out its whole course, then, however great his achieve¬ 
ments may have been, the recording of them can 
prove of little good to those who come after him. 

I have seen very few men in public life who worked 
solely for the good of the people without the selfish¬ 
ness that usually characterizes those who achieve 
success. 

In these pages will be found no effort at philosophi¬ 
cal analysis; no disclosure of underlying motives; no 
reasoning from cause to effect in writing the story of 
a long life. It is only intended to present a plain and 
simple narrative of the events in the life-history of 
an old lawyer, an old politician, who was often mis¬ 
judged, sometimes hated, and sometimes even loved 
by those among whom his life has passed. 

The fact that the narrative appears in the first per¬ 
son may lead to the belief on the part of the reader 
that the author was swayed by a desire to make an 
exhibition of himself rather than do good to others. 



10 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


This ought not to be so. The example may be good 
or the contrary. In this narrative the facts shall be 
given and the truth shall be kept in view from the 
commencement to the end. 

GENEALOGICAL SKETCH 

T WAS .born January 21st, 1846, on what is known 
A as Cherokee Creek in, Washington County, State 
of Tennessee. The place where I was born belonged 
to my grandfather, John C. Harris, a minister of the 
M. E. Church and a physician of the old style. He 
had been in possession of the homestead since a short 
time after the Revolution. He had married Sarah 
Reagan, daughter of Jere Reagan, and first cousin of 
Senator John H. Reagan, of Texas. They had raised 
a family of twelve children; nine sons and two daugh¬ 
ters. My father, Alexander Nelson Harris, was the 
eighth child. He was educated in the old-field schools 
and finished his course in the Holston College, of New 
Market, in what was then Jefferson County. Three 
of the sons studied medicine, and one of the girls mar¬ 
ried a very prominent physician, Dr. John E. Cossen, 
of Jonesboro. 

My grandmother always claimed that one of her 
brothers served with General Washington, having 
been attached in some way to his headquarters. She 
referred to this at times with much pride. 

My grandfather Harris emigrated from Rockingham 
County, Virginia, and came with his father and mother 
some time after the close of the Revolution to what 
is now Washington County, Tennessee, settling some 
two or three miles south of the town of Jonesboro on 
the Little Cherokee. His family came originally from 
Rock Hall in Maryland, and claimed to be from the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


11 


English gentry who settled at that place on the Chesa¬ 
peake. One branch of the family moved to North 
Carolina from which descended Governor, afterwards 
Senator, Isham G. Harris, of Tennessee, I am told. 

My mother was a daughter of David Haynes, son 
of George Grandison Haynes, a Revolutionary soldier 
who served under Col. William Washington, the lat¬ 
ter commanding a squadron of light horse in General 
Greene’s Army 

He also was born in Virginia, but came to East 
Tennessee after the Revolution, marrying a Miss Mc- 
Inturff. He settled in Carter County and raised a 
large family. His son, David, was of a peculiar type. 
He had much native talent and knew how to make 
money. His peculiarities, as he grew to wealth, ob¬ 
tained for him, among his neighbors of the moun¬ 
tains, the sobriquet of “King David.” He was of an 
exacting character and always claimed that he was of 
German descent. 

I have never been able to reconcile this claim, un¬ 
less it applied to someone else than the male line. 
His father was undoubtedly descended from the fam¬ 
ily of the same name in New England, one of whom, 
John Haynes, was Governor of Connecticut. 

Be this as it may, my grandfather married Rhoda 
Taylor, a daughter of Mathew Taylor, a brother 
of Gen. James P. Taylor, the latter the grand¬ 
father of Alfred A. and Robt. L.Taylor. 

There was a large family born of this marriage. 
My mother was the tenth child. Of her sisters, Emma 
Haynes married Nathaniel G. Taylor, and her sons, 
who achieved most distinction, were Robert L. Tay¬ 
lor, Governor and Senator, Alf. A. Taylor, Congress¬ 
man and Governor, and James P. Taylor, Adjutant 
General of the State. The Haynes children were all 



HON. LANDON C. HAYNES 
Senator Confederate States Congress 
Called “Silver Tongued Orator of Tennessee.’* 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


13 


endowed with fine intellects. Landon C. Haynes, the 
oldest son, became one of the greatest lawyers the 
State has produced. He has been called the “Eagle 
Orator of East Tennessee.” I have heard him stand 
in his porch, looking out on the Buffalo mountain in 
the early morning, and declaim the orations of Cicero, 
in the original Latin. His voice was orotund, and he 
rolled out the Latin words with gestures and a pro¬ 
nunciation calculated to catch the fancy of anyone 
who believed in old-fashioned oratory. He was al¬ 
most irresistible before a jury. He put into his speeches 
humor, pathos and fiery declamation that swept the 
courthouse, with the judge and jury, off their feet. He 
made his first race for Congress against Andrew John¬ 
son, afterwards President of the United States. They 
were both Democrats. I could, at one time, repeat a 
considerable portion of his speech in opposition to Mr. 
Johnson. He began in these words: 

“It affords me no ordinary pleasure to meet this 
large assemblage of my neighbors and fellowmen com¬ 
posed of both political parties, before whom I may 
meet my competitor and contest with him the princi¬ 
ples and pretensions on which he asks his re-election 
and my defeat for a seat in the next Congress. I do 
not come before the people dressed in the robes of 
office, armed with pension lists, and fortified by the 
formidable impulse of a public press planted at my 
feet, but I stand on the naked justice of my cause.” 

Mr. Johnson prophesied that he (Mr. Johnson) 
would beat Haynes fifteen hundred votes in the dis¬ 
trict, and he did. 

His next race was against Hon. Thomas A. R. Nel¬ 
son, of Jonesboro, also for Congress. Colonel Nelson 
was elected by a majority of fifty-one votes and was 
serving in Congress at the time the Civil War began. 


14 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


Colonel Nelson’s son, David, was in school with me 
at Martin Academy, while this race was going on. He 
had gone around with Haynes and Nelson and learned 
to repeat the speech made by Haynes. He could not 
remember his father’s, but could repeat almost exactly 
the striking addresses of Colonel Haynes. Sometimes, 
after school had adjourned, we got young Nelson to 
take the platform and deliver to us the addresses made 
by his father’s opponent. I had heard both speeches 
at a joint debate in Jonesboro, and recognized the fi¬ 
delity with which young Nelson repeated my uncle’s 
speech. 

Dave Nelson was a natural orator, and if he had 
lived would doubtless have surpassed in splendid 
speaking any of East Tennessee’s second crop. 

After the State seceded, Colonel Haynes was elected 
Confederate Senator and served in Richmond through¬ 
out the whole war. 

East Tennessee gave birth to a great number of 
orators and statesmen. In my young days I was per¬ 
mitted to see and hear, on the rostrum or in the 
courthouse, a galaxy of brilliant public men rarely sur¬ 
passed in the nation. Among these were Andrew 
Johnson, Thomas A. R. Nelson, Horace Maynard, 
Landon C. Haynes, Nathaniel G. Taylor and John 
Netherland, with a score of lesser lights who would 
have towered shoulder high above the public men of 
other states in that time. My father, brought up in 
these scenes, was no mean speaker-himself. Dr. R. N. 
Price, in his history of Hols’ton Methodism, uses these 
words of my father: 

“Dr. Harris was rated as a very eloquent speaker. 
An old gentleman who had heard him often said after 
his death that he was ‘the most eloquent speaker he 
had ever heard; it seemed to him that he had only to 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


15 


open his mouth and his words would tear up the earth 
in front of him.’ ” 

On one occasion, after delivering a. strong and vig¬ 
orous address in the courthouse at Jonesboro, on the 
issues of the war, early in 1861, he closed with 
an eloquent appeal to his audience, apparently throw¬ 
ing all his soul into his words. And so great was the 
effect of his eloquence that the people rose from their 
seats and, rushing forward to the stand, took him 
upon their shoulders and, with shouts and tears, car¬ 
ried him into the streets of the town. 

Rev. Henry P. Waugh wrote a tribute to Dr. Harris, 
which was published in The Nashville Christian Ad¬ 
vocate sometime after his death. In this tribute he 
stated that three persons, who afterwards became 
brothers-in-law, were licensed to preach at the same 
Quarterly Conference at a little schoolhouse north¬ 
west of Jonesboro. They were, he said, Landon C. 
Haynes, Nathaniel G. Taylor, and Alexander N. 
Harris. He said that all became great speakers and 
achieved much reputation; but, after all, he thought 
that for fiery and impassioned oratory, Dr. Harris 
was the best of the three. 

The sketch of my father referred to is found on 
pages 30-34 of the Fourth Volume of the History of 
Holston Methodism. 

My mother, though modest and retiring in her dis¬ 
position, yet had a strong personality. There was not 
one of the eleven children who did not yield to her 
influence and acknowledge her sense of right and jus¬ 
tice. If they disobeyed her, it was with their eyes 
fully opened to the fact that her commands were proper 
and her judgment good. There were only seventeen 
years between her age and mine, as she was born De¬ 
cember 21 st, 1828, while my birthday was the 21st 


16 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


of January, 1846—seventeen years and one month 
after she was born. 

As my father was engaged in the practice of med¬ 
icine, he was very little at home and this threw me, 
in my earlier years, into the closest possible compan¬ 
ionship of my mother. She did most of the punish¬ 
ing in those early times, using the rod according to the 
Scriptures. On one occasion I crept under the house 
to get away from her, but she followed me and my 
effort to avoid the punishment did not succeed. I then 
tried running away from her, and once went down the 
red lane, in the public road which ran by the house. 
My mother ran after me and near the foot of the Kill 
both of us fell flat in the roadway. She was the first 
to rise and I did not escape the thrashing for some 
disobedience. I sat by the side of the road trying to 
study out the philosophy of the punishment when I 
saw her coming back down the lane and instantly I 
felt that she had returned to complete the punishment. 
When she came near, however, she said: “I am not 
after you this time, Sir.” 

She had lost her side comb when she fell, and came 
back to get it. I helped her hunt for it and in this 
way we were soon reconciled. 

I think my father tried to put into force with me 
all his notions about the training of a young son. The 
consequence was, that I received more attention from 
him than any of the rest of the children. His punish¬ 
ments were more severe and his advice and counsel 
were more constant in my case than in that of the 
other children. He watched my progress at school 
and looked after my reading at home, giving me good 
advice at all times when he was with me. I never had 
any disposition to rebel against any 'course that he 
might lay down for me. I respected him for his high 


AU TOBIOGRAPHY 


17 


Christian character and steady, unchanging worship of 
the Higher Power above us all. In all my asso¬ 
ciation with him I never heard him use an unseemly 
expression or give utterance to one evil thought. His 
religion was a recognized part of the household, and 
it was never put aside. 

EARLIEST RECOLLECTIONS 

My memory goes hack to the time when I was but 
three years of age. I was born in the old homestead 
at the foot of the hill, as heretofore stated. My grand¬ 
father was dead and the home was kept up by my 
grandmother, who was a woman of the old style— 
strict in all her ways, yet amiable and gentle, though 
firm as a rock when she set her foot down. In my 
third year, my father decided to build a home of his 
own. My grandfather had left a will directing the 
property to be settled upon my father in case he should 
continue in the ministry until he was broken down and 
needed a home. He had located after ten years’ serv¬ 
ice-in the ministry of hi-s church, and had decided, as 
far as he was concerned, that he was “broken down 
and in need of the home.” 

His brothers and sisters did not agree with him, 
however, and a meeting was called to construe the will 
among themselves and make some disposition of the 
landed property. When the final conclusion was reach¬ 
ed, the heirs executed a paper providing that the farm 
should be divided between my father and the young¬ 
est son, J. E. T. Harris, the consideration being that 
my father should take care of his unmarried sister, 
Sarah A. Harris, and my uncle, J. E. T. Harris, known 
as Uncle Ed., should take care of and support his 
mother. This agreement should last through their 
lives, at the end of which the property should belong 


18 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


respectively to the two sons. One or two of the heirs 
never signed this paper, and long after the Civil War 
demanded a share in the property. 

The frame of the house which my father proposed 
to build was set up in the yard of the old homestead, 
and when the division was made it was determined to 
move this frame to a new situation on the hill, where 
it now stands. As stated, I was three years old at the 
time, and I stood out on the porch and witnessed the 
loading of this frame on the wagons. I remember see¬ 
ing one of the men put a large tree stump underneath 
the side of the frame and proceed to lift the house, mak¬ 
ing a lever of the stump. It was very large in diameter 
but was undoubtedly rotten, yet, because the stump 
broke in the hands of the man trying to lift with it, I 
reached the conclusion that he must truly be the strong¬ 
est man in the world. Other people were lifting with 
handspikes, but none of these broke, and for this reason 
my young mind selected this man as the strongest per¬ 
son I had ever seen. I made no allowance for the 
rottenness of the stump, but long afterwards, when 
I have seen people fooled by an exhibition of seem¬ 
ing strength, I have remembered the man with the 
rotten stump, and the thought would come up that he 
is not always to be considered the strongest because 
the hand-spike breaks in his hands. 

I watched the completion of our home on the hill 
and tried to take some part in it at times, though only 
four years of age. I remember one day getting hold 
of the lime bucket and drawing on the chimney of the 
house the figure of a man, in heroic proportions, add¬ 
ing all the parts I could think of to make the figure 
look like a man, including beard and eyes. As this 
did not figure in the plans of the architect, my father 
gave me a thrashing and my mother tried to rub the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


19 


figure out, but she could not entirely succeed, and I 
have seen it there through the long seventy-odd years, 
still reminding me of, perhaps, the first whipping 
my father ever gave me. The figure could not be 
rubbed out, and it is certain the occurrence has never 
passed from my mind. 

Two things stand out in my memory of this earlier 
time: My father taught me to recite pieces that were 
learned by heart, so that as the children came on, I 
was accustomed to make an audience out of them and 
declaim with great energy the pieces I had committed 
to memory. There came on also the hunting fever and 
my memory runneth not to the contrary touching the 
coming on of my desires in this respect. It was “the 
unregenerate instinct of the chase,” which we have 
all inherited from our barbarian ancestors. I fired a 
gun at four years of age. My father owned a flint¬ 
lock rifle, and one day I begged him so hard to let 
me shoot that he took me out to the road, loaded the 
gun with a cork that he took from a bottle and pointed 
it at the bank, telling me to sight it and pull the trig¬ 
ger. I did so and I saw some dirt fly up from the 
bank. This to me was a great event. I imagined that 
cork had gone many yards into the bank, and after 
my father had left I took up a shovel or hoe and 
began to dig in the bank to find the cork. Of course 
it was a useless quest, but it was splendid exercise for 
the boy of four years of age. For me, the “shot had 
sounded round the world.” 

When I grew up, so that I was able to handle a 
gun, my father made me a present of a rifle. It was 
the happiest day in my life. 

I learned to use it hunting squirrels, rabbits, doves 
and partridges in the fields around the home, and I 
grew so expert with it that I was called a first-class 


20 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


shot. I ranged up and down the creek carrying the 
gun as my sole companion, shooting at ducks and other 
game with what I thought was great success. Unfor¬ 
tunately, however, I had allowed some uncontrolled 
temper to grow up with me, and one day down in the 
meadow-land I attempted to load the gun and failed 
to put the powder down ahead of the bullet. This so 
much exasperated me that I laid the gun down and 
stamped on it, breaking it in two pieces at the stock. 

My father left me without a gun for many months, 
maybe years, after this. His punishment was just, and 
the lesson never forgotten. 

About this time, too, in my eleventh year, my father 
decided to take a young boy into the home. 

He brought the boy down from what was then known 
as the “Greasy Cove,” now Erwin, in Unicoi County, 
and had agreed with the mother of the child, who was 
a widow, that the boy should reside with him as if 
hound to him in accordance with the State law. He 
further agreed that he should be educated to a cer¬ 
tain extent, and when he reached the age of twenty- 
one, he was to come into possession of a horse and sad¬ 
dle and a set of furniture or some other articles that he 
might choose in their place. The boy’s name was 
David J. White, and his coming was certainly an epoch 
in my life. He was several years my senior. Up to 
that time I had never appreciated the advantages that 
I enjoyed, both in school and in home life. David be¬ 
gan to read everything in sight and to try to impress 
on me the importance of learning in this way some¬ 
thing about the world and the things that had hap¬ 
pened in it. I went into the field with him to work. 
We had negro slaves, but only one among them was 
a good farm hand, so that David had to make a hand 
himself and, in fact, keep the work going, under my 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


21 


father’s direction, on the farm. We would work 
through the summer and go to school in the winter 
months. I can look back now and recall the fact that 
my early association with David White awoke within 
me the ambition to succeed, which followed me the re¬ 
mainder of my days. I began to take note of my situ¬ 
ation and surroundings. I began to see even in this 
early time that the opportunities which I enjoyed were 
much greater than those falling to the lot of other 
boys around me. My father had a library. He, him¬ 
self was inclined to literature. He was reading at 
all spare moments and I soon caught the infection, 
and David White and I started out to explore the 
library and increase our knowledge of the events of the 
past. We studied history as well as literature to¬ 
gether, we memorized a great number of extracts 
from speeches and orations delivered by great ora¬ 
tors, adding to this many poetical extracts, all of which 
we began to declaim to each other with an enthusiasm 
which, to say the least, was remarkable. I remember 
in our repertoire the “Ruins of Time” was the fav¬ 
orite, a speech which we found in Field’s Scrap Book. 
We learned, also, Campbell’s “Hohen-Linden” and 
Wadsworth’s “Roderick in Battle,” and some splendid 
verses on Eloquence, Halleck’s “Marco Bozzaris” and 
many others of this character. We vied with each 
other in declaiming these pieces, imagining that we had 
become thorough-going orators destined to lead the 
country in the making of speeches. I suppose we ac¬ 
quired some bent in this way, for long afterwards 
David White went to preaching the Gospel and I went 
to practicing law. 

POLITICAL 

My father was always a staunch Democrat so far 
as his political alliances were concerned. While he 


22 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


continued to preach the Gospel, he would turn aside 
at times to make a political speech, when called on by 
his friends. I remember that he was importuned at 
various times before the war, both orally and in writ¬ 
ing, to become a candidate for Congress. On one 
occasion he took up a letter from his table and open¬ 
ing it handed it to me and said: “Such communica¬ 
tions as these have caused me much distress and un¬ 
rest.” The letter was from one of his strong friends 
in Sullivan County, urgently asking to be allowed the 
use of his name in the next race for Congress. Pos¬ 
sibly my father considered the question again and 
again, but he never took any steps toward such a can¬ 
didacy. 

In the political campaign of i860, after the Demo¬ 
crats had nominated Breckenridge and Lane as their 
candidates, my father was invited to go to a great 
Democratic barbecue, that was to be held at Fall 
Branch in behalf of the Democratic ticket. He de¬ 
cided to go and take along a wagon-load of provisions, 
with a large number of retainers from among his 
friends in the neighborhood. He allowed me also to 
accompany the expedition. The journey required parts 
of two days and the procession camped one night on 
the way. A large fire was kindled in the center of the 
camp and around this the people gathered to hear 
speaking and campaign songs. My father was called 
on to address the crowd and made a very earnest and 
serious speech, prophesying the dangers to the Govern¬ 
ment that were hanging on the result of the election. 
After he was through Col. John H. Crawford was 
called on. He began his speech with a statement that 
very much surprised me. He said he had never made 
a political speech in his life and never intended to do 
so. I couldn’t reconcile this statement with the fact 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


23 


that he was addressing a large audience at the time en¬ 
gaged in a political rally. He told several anecdotes 
which made the people laugh, though the anecdotes 
had no bearing, apparently, on the political situation. 

I tried to sleep in the wagon but the quarters were 
so terribly contracted that I must have complained 
very seriously from what the people told me next day. 
I lost my temper because the space they allowed me to 
sleep in was too short. 

When we reached the grounds where the barbecue 
was to be given next day we opened ranks in the road 
to let Andrew Johnson pass through. He was then 
United States Senator, as I remember, and was put 
down as one of the leading speakers for the gather¬ 
ing. I recollect as he passed through the vast con¬ 
course which had divided in the road for him, a col¬ 
ored man was driving the buggy, and just as he came 
opposite to the place where I was standing in the 
road the colored man let the buggy run off the road. 
Mr. Johnson jerked him back and said: “ You had 
better w'atch what you are about. Don’t let this 
buggy run off the road any more.” I think Mr. John¬ 
son owned the driver and it struck me as something 
worthy of note that he used a sharp command to him 
in the presence of all the people. That afternoon the 
speaking took place in a very large auditorium and 
was attended by both women and men. I got in the 
rear and heard the speech of the future President, to 
the audience. As I remember, it was an able expo¬ 
sition of Democratic doctrine, illustrated by many 
striking figures that made a profound impression on 
all who heard him. He closed his prophesies of evil 
that would attend the defeat of the Democratic party 
by telling the story found in the old Grecian Myth¬ 
ology about the opening of Pandora’s box. He de- 


24 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


scribed how all the evils that afflict mankind had been 
put into a box and the lid fastened down so as to keep 
them in captivity and prevent the world from suffer¬ 
ing from them. Pandora was the wife of Epime- 
theus and had never been told about the box that held 
back all the evils of earth. She found it one day in 
the closet, and, overcome by her feminine curiosity, 
opened the box to see what was in it. Immediately 
all the evils that had been imprisoned in the box rush¬ 
ed out and spread themselves over the earth. Over¬ 
come with terror at the sight of these monsters and 
fearful of the consequences, she shut the lid down 
hastily just in time to prevent the escape of Hope, 
which was the only thing left to man, in the box for 
his comfort and encouragement. 

When he finished the story a good old lady who 
sat just back of me in one of the seats shook her head 
and cried out with a negative interjection, “Huh-uh, 
Mr. Johnson,” shaking her head, “that won’t do. I 
don’t believe a word you are saying.” I saw the people 
grin when she cried out, but the most of them, it seem¬ 
ed to me, agreed with her. It showed me that an il¬ 
lustration taken even from mythology was sometimes 
utterly misunderstood. 

This was my first experience with a political meet¬ 
ing, and it made a great impression on me, the recol¬ 
lection of which can never pass away. 

MY COMPANIONS 

As I grew up my companions that were closest to 
me were my cousin, Eugene Hunter and my brother, 
Joe. We indulged in all the sports of childhood: swim¬ 
ming in the old mill dam at Murray’s; harnessing grass¬ 
hoppers, and afterwards hitching a little dog to a small 
wagon; breaking up the crows’ nests in the tops of tall 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


25 


trees, hunting squirrels and rabbits; going to school 
together in the winter time to the old field schools; 
taking each other’s part and helping each other for¬ 
ward whenever the circumstances required. I remem¬ 
ber on one occasion Eugene and I were out hunting 
rabbits. The dog started a rabbit and it ran close by 
me. Without a moment’s thought I raised the rifle 
that I constantly carried, and fired at the excited ani¬ 
mal. The bullet missed the animal but struck Eu¬ 
gene on the lip. We used to call it a “close shave,” 
for if he had owned a moustache at the time it would 
certainly have taken it off. 

My brother, Joe, who is nearly four years my 
junior, accompanied us in nearly all our excursions. 
As he was the smallest, we made him carry our burdens 
in many cases, and as he began this in his earlier days 
he continued it when he had reached manhood. I owe 
to his kindness and generosity the fact that I was able 
to leave the mother and the children to go to college 
and graduate. He never cared much for school and, 
after the negroes were freed, he was the mainstay of 
the family, working on the farm and keeping up the 
family, both in Georgia and Tennessee. There never 
was a more loyal and devoted brother born in the 
world, and I give this testimonial to his worth and 
purity. After we had brought the family back from 
Georgia we paid off the debts of the father, lifted the 
trust deed he had executed and then purchased from 
the children their share in the old homestead. While 
I furnished most of the money that was used, yet we 
worked together in everything that was done concern¬ 
ing the matter. The mother had once said that she 
never would be satisfied if all the children did not get 
their part in the homestead left by the father. We 
paid them all except one or two, who made a volun¬ 
tary deed. I then executed a conveyance to my 


26 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


brother with the understanding between us that he 
would keep up the old homestead and the Harris name 
should hang on to it as long as he lived. He has done 
so. He married before we left Georgia and his only 
children were four daughters, who are still living at 
the time of this writing, and the family has been 
raised on the old homestead where our youth was 
passed. Like myself, he is growing old, but he still 
keeps his interest awake in the things that are around 
him and is recognized as a leading citizen among the 
Democrats of the county. 

Eugene Hunter studied medicine, reading a part of 
the time under direction of my father, and after tak¬ 
ing his degree at a medical college married Mary J. 
Jobe, a sister of my present wife, both of whom were 
daughters of Dr. A. Jobe, of Elizahethton, Tennessee. 
After practicing awhile in Washington County Dr. 
Hunter came to Elizabethton where he spent the re¬ 
mainder of his life. He died about the year 1920, 
leaving his wife and a number of children to lament 
his death. He achieved distinction in his profession, 
having been at one time President of the Medical As¬ 
sociation of Tennessee, and taking a leading part in 
every matter of importance in his county and State. 

After I had gone to the War he became attached to 
my brother, Joe, and transferred most of his love and 
friendship to him, which it is needless to say continued 
to his death. 


MY SCHOOL DAYS 

My father, aided by my mother’s brother, James, 
taught me the ABC’s and gave me the first lessons in 
spelling in the way of an education. In my sixth year 
I entered school at old Uriel Church. The teacher of 
the school was Mrs. Susan Grove. My father car- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


27 


ried me to the school house and on the way while 
crossing the foot-log over the Cherokee Creek, he 
took from his pocket a silver half-dollar and holding 
it out to me said: “Nattie, if you will make a good 
scholar and come out at the head of your class at the 
end of the school I will give you this half dollar.” 
It was the first half dollar I had ever seen and it looked 
larger to me than a wagon wheel. The school ran 
for some four or five months, and at the end of the 
time when the spelling class was called up I stood 
second in the class. I kept this place to the end of the 
day, but I am obliged to state that the dear, sweet 
woman who headed the class, Hannah Hoss, first cou¬ 
sin of Bishop E. E. Hoss, kept me by her side by whis¬ 
pering the letters to me when I was hesitating about 
spelling the word correctly. My father said he would 
comply with his promise, as I had come so near to 
the head and took out the half dollar to hand me. 
It was in change, tens and fives, and I could not under¬ 
stand how it could be called a half dollar. When I 
complained to my mother about it she explained how 
the half dollar had been broken up into smaller change 
and that it was still a half dollar. I always felt disap¬ 
pointed, however, and couldn’t believe I had gotten 
the reward that my father had promised. 

This first school at Uriel was not in the common 
school system, but was gotten up by subscription by 
the neighbors, largely by my father’s work and exer¬ 
tion. The next school, however, was gotten up by 
other persons, and Mrs. Susan Grove continued another 
term. I did not do so well in this term. The teacher 
was a little partial to the children of the men who had 
made up the school for her and her countenance was 
set against my folks. I received during this session 
my first and only punishment at school. The teacher 


28 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


struck me one time with a heavy switch. I had been 
making bubbles with a straw on the window sill and 
she saw me in the act and testified straightway with 
a sharp stick that she did not approve it. It was only 
one blow, but it came near breaking my heart, al¬ 
though eminently deserved. 

The next school I attended was at Mays School 
House, and was one of the old field schools held only 
in the winter time for about three to five months, de¬ 
pending on whether an additional month or two was 
put on by private subscription. 

David White always attended these schools with 
me, as my father gave him the same opportunities that 
I enjoyed of getting an education. He became a good 
speller, having the old blue back Webster’s spelling 
book at his command. I tried to keep up with him 
but he soon became known as the best speller in the 
schools while I was in the background. There was al¬ 
ways either a spelling-match or a speaking exhibition 
at these schools on Friday afternoon. I remember one 
occasion when one of the teachers, whose name I have 
forgotten, had the school divided up for a spelling bee 
on Friday afternoon. The teacher had a brother in 
the school who occupied a position in the spelling ranks 
not second to any unless it was to David White. This 
brother was appointed leader on one side and some 
girl, as I now remember it, on the other. They were 
required to choose the spellers who took their seats on 
different sides of the aisle beginning on the front rows 
as they were chosen. David White was chosen first 
and on the same side the young lady chose me fifth, 
so I took my seat sixth man from the head. The spell¬ 
ing began at the foot, two of each side standing up in 
the aisle and the teacher giving out the words from the 
old spelling book. The spellers were knocked out one 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


29 


by one, both sides sharing in the adventure till at last 
I was called out. The other side looked very formid¬ 
able for in the competition our side had suffered most 
and there was a long row of scholars opposite me 
when I was called to the floor. We had it nip and 
tuck for some time, all my opponents giving away be¬ 
fore me, as, strange to say, I missed nothing in the 
spelling and finally the leader, who was the last on his 
side, stood up before me. As he was the brother of 
the teacher I was sure I would soon go down before 
him, for I knew of his success in spelling. The teacher 
tried us with the words in the back of the speller first, 
like “flagitious and “indestructibility,” large and small 
words, the most difficult in the book, but he was up in 
all this and spelled promptly and without error. Then 
the teacher turned to the front of the book and began 
at “horseback,” words of two syllables, then gradually 
approached to three syllables. Here the first word 
he gave out was “champion.” My opponent spelled 
the word “cham-pe-on.” It seemed to please the teacher 
that his brother had made a mistake, and as quick as 
lightning he turned to me and cried out: “Next.” I 
spelled the word correctly and the leader sat down— 
so our side was successful. David White was accus¬ 
tomed for some time afterwards to twit me with hav¬ 
ing prevented him from showing off his abilities. After 
this spelling match I was generally taken as first or 
second choice. My standing in the school was in¬ 
creased somewhat in importance by the result. It 
was my first victory at school. 

In all these old field schools my father’s position 
added something to my standing, but I never thought 
I got very much credit from my own work. 

Miss Fannie Smith was keeping a school at Be- 
thesda, some three miles southeast of our home near 


30 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


the Embreeville road, and my father determined that 
I should go to this school. It was of a higher order 
than the old field school and I have the impression 
that I learned more under Miss Fannie than under any 
of the rest of the teachers mentioned. I rode on horse¬ 
back to attend the school, leaving my horse at my 
Uncle Wesley’s mill, which was on the road to the 
school house. At this school the people of the neigh¬ 
borhood gathered every Friday afternoon to hear 
speaking and composition which Miss Fannie required 
as an exhibition from her students. Of course I joined 
in the declamation, but I am obliged to admit that the 
“Ruins of Time” which I used to speak would not 
compare with the speech delivered by one of my Uncle 
Wesley’s sons, John Harrison. He would speak “The 
Lapland Boy” at these exhibitions. His speech began: 
“I am a little Lapland boy; What care I for gold or 
toy,” etc. He could Ifft the audience by this speech 
and he certainly laid his cousin in the shade. He after¬ 
wards became a distinguished minister of the Gospel, 
preaching in Tennessee and Georgia, and dying in the 
work. 

I had a strange adventure with my Uncle Wesley' 
once. He came up to our home and was standing in 
the old barn door talking to my father when I came 
up to him. He caught hold of me without warning 
and threw me on a pile of straw and then took a fork 
which fitted over my neck and pinned me to the straw. 
It frightened me so greatly that .for years I dreaded 
to see him after this. In fact I never became recon¬ 
ciled to him until after we came to Georgia where he 
took the place of my father in my affections after the 
latter’s death. He was a minister, himself, but never 
joined the Conference. I have heard him preach many 
a sermon, but he always ended up with the same words 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


31 


and the same appeal. He ran a large flour and corn 
mill and ground the corn and wheat of the neighbors 
in the old style, taking his toll from each grinding. His 
son, Fiske, afterwards became one of my closest asso¬ 
ciates, going to school with me at Jonesboro in old 
Martin Academy. Fiske joined the army and, on one 
occasion when he came home to see his mother and 
father, the bushwhackers surrounded his father’s house 
where he was staying, captured him, carried him 
through the front door and shot him to death while 
his sister’s arms were around him and she was beg¬ 
ging for his life. This was the first tragedy that over¬ 
took us in the war. 

After I had reached fourteen years of age it began 
to appear that I had gotten from the old field schools 
about all that could he given to me. I was one day in 
the middle orchard of the old homestead when my 
father came up. I was trying to get some pears out 
of one of the old pear trees that stood in the orchard 
and had climbed the tree for this purpose. My father, 
who disliked to see me idle on any pretense, came up 
to the tree and said to me, “Nat, my boy, I think you 
had better start to school in Jonesboro. I have just 
learned that your cousin, John Frank Gifford, is study¬ 
ing Latin and Greek, and it is time you were begin¬ 
ning to do something yourself in that way.” It was 
a great shock to me and the memory of it hung to me 
for a long time. John Frank Gifford and myself were 
about the same age. He was the oldest son of Aunt 
Mary Gifford, sister of my mother, and was beginning 
to have a great influence over me. He would come 
out now and then to see me from Jonesboro where he 
lived. So the result was I entered old Martin Acad¬ 
emy in Jonesboro at the next session in 1859, m m Y 
fourteenth year. Nathan Bachman, of Sullivan Coun- 


32 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


ty, was the principal of the school. He was a very 
able teacher and he kept his pupils at hard work 
through every hour of the school day. I found when 
I entered the school that John Frank was really study¬ 
ing Latin and Greek; it used to be some pleasure for 
me to remember, before his death, that by the end of 
the school year I had passed him, leaving him far be¬ 
hind in those studies. I had completed Caesar’s Com¬ 
mentaries and had begun to read Xenophon’s Anabasis 
in Greek, while John Frank was still struggling with 
the first readers in Greek and Latin. 

In attending this school I rode most of the time bacjt 
and forth every day on “old Doll,” one of my father’s 
horses, hitching her in my Aunt Mary’s stables near 
the Academy. 

I never knew why I passed John Frank so quickly. 
He, doubtless, had never been very studious. He had 
a fine intellect and splendid judgment of men and things 
and undoubtedly would have made a man of promi¬ 
nence had he lived. I loved and admired him and 
looked up to him as a country boy would look up to 
his city cousin who knew the world and had mingled 
with its struggling crowds. We joined the army to¬ 
gether and spent the first year in the camp with each 
other. After the war was over he used to come down 
from his home to see my mother on her return to Cher¬ 
okee and she learned to love him as her own son. On 
one of these visits, while eating, a chicken bone be¬ 
came fastened in his throat. Unable to extricate it 
he went home, and I suppose no doctor being acces¬ 
sible, it caused an irritation that continued and finally 
brought about his death. My mother grieved for him 
as for her own child and the loss fell on my heart as 
of one beyond all reconciliation. He was a gentle¬ 
man always, and although I thought at times he looked 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


33 


down on me as a mere country-raised kinsman, yet he 
never failed to take my part when it became neces¬ 
sary and he shared with me the perils of the field and 
the hardships of the' camp at all times, loyally stand¬ 
ing by to help or encourage. 

God bless his memory. 

During a portion of this ten months’ session I 
boarded with Mr. Arch Mason, who had married my 
father’s niece in Jonesboro. Here I met Mr. John 
Mason, his oldest son, and a younger son named 
James Mason, both by a former wife. James Mason 
and myself roomed together. Our association was 
pleasant, for although he was far beyond me in the 
studies of the school, yet he seemed to take great 
pleasure in helping me master the tasks and giving me 
advice in connection with the work I was doing. He 
afterwards became a very distinguished Presbyterian 
minister and has been stationed for the last thirty 
years in one of the prominent cities of New Jersey. 

At the end of the ten months there was a great exhi¬ 
bition which took place at the court house. The school 
was only for males and, therefore, our exhibition con¬ 
sisted mostly of speaking and composition. My father 
wrote most of my speech, though I ventured to throw 
in a few original thoughts. After I delivered the speech 
a beautiful bouquet of flowers was put in my hand by 
someone and I thought I had achieved considerable 
distinction to have earned such a splendid tribute. Long 
afterwards I found out that this bouquet of flowers 
was intended for my cousin, Fiske Harris, whose speech 
was a tribute to womanhood, and rightly deserved a 
gift of flowers from some of the good women who 
heard him. 

Among my school mates was Major C. E. Lucky, 
who afterwards served in the Confederate Army with 


34 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


me and following the war became a leading lawyer in 
Knoxville, Tenn. I learned to admire him and tried 
to pattern after him wherever I could. He was the 
son of Judge Seth J. W. Lucky, Chancellor of the 
Upper East Tennessee District, who lived at Jones¬ 
boro. Cornelius, the son, had gone far beyond me 
in the studies of the school, but in all our sports and 
the squabbles that often grew out of them, he looked 
after me, championed my cause at times, and helped 
me out when I needed it, so that my heart went out 
to him and I was as proud as a country boy could be 
of an acquaintance so far above him in a city school. 

After I had finished the year at Martin Academy, 
under Professor Bachman, who declined to continue the 
school, my father decided to send me to Boone’s Creek 
in the northwest portion of Washington County, about 
eight miles from Jonesboro. The school was kept by 
Prof. Thomas P. Summers. The reputation of Prof. 
Summers as a teacher had extended very widely 
through upper East Tennessee. 

The reputation was well deserved. Prof. Summers 
had the power of arousing and cultivating the better 
part of a student to a greater degree than any other 
teacher with whom I came in contact in my earlier life. 
I remained in the school only a little over six weeks 
when I was taken down with the mumps and the disease 
attacked me so severely that I could not return before 
the term had ended. In the six weeks during which I at¬ 
tended the school I read the four books of Virgil’s 
Aeneid, finished Xenophon’s Anabasis, and kept up with 
the class in mathematics and other studies of the cur¬ 
riculum. I never made such progress in any other six 
weeks of my life. 

My father came to attend me during the sickness. 
After several weeks of suffering he ascertained that 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


35 


the classes had all made such progress that it would 
be impossible for me to enter again and keep up with 
them, consequently he decided to take me back home 
and wait until the school at Martin Academy opened 
again. The authorities in charge of that school had 
succeeded in enlisting Prof. John L. Lampson, a very 
efficient and experienced teacher, to come to Jonesboro 
and undertake the work of the school. When I came 
inside of the school room the first words I heard from 
him were: “Hark! Hark!” in a hoarse stentorian 
voice. He was a Northerner, but with Southern pro¬ 
clivities, and soon made all the boys like him on ac¬ 
count of his learning and patience and energy in try¬ 
ing to teach them to appreciate an education. 

SOME DISTINGUISHED MEN 

Among the students at Boone’s Creek were a good 
many boys who afterwards became well-known. In my 
class was Joseph Wagner, afterwards Major Wagner, 
of the Confederate Army. He lived at Taylorsville, 
known afterwards as Mountain City, in Johnson 
County, Tennessee. I remember his putting his fin¬ 
gers through his coal black hair and trying with me 
to construe some difficult sentence in the Anabasis or 
some obscure line in Virgil. He attracted me very 
much. 

Ebb Reeves, of Johnson City, the lawyer, was also 
one of the students. His cousin, Capt. Isaac Reeves, 
son of William Reeves, likewise attended the school 
with me. He afterwards settled at Jonesboro, marry¬ 
ing a distant kinsman of mine. Then among others was 
Gen. James P. Taylor, my first cousin, and I used to 
think it was a misfortune that both of us fell in love 
with a sister of Capt. Reeves. It was a genteel rivalry 
and never disturbed our relations. 


36 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


There was a Gus Bowers, also, who attended the 
school, who was a son of Col. “Blue” Bowers. Gus 
joined the Northern Army, but lived through the war. 
On one of my visits to Johnson City after the war I 
met him at the depot. While we stood together run¬ 
ning over our past history a little, I asked him what 
he was doing. He said he had just lost his place as 
Surveyor of the County, and when I asked why he lost 
it he replied: “I suppose because the people didn’t like 
my preaching.” Then he told me that he did not be¬ 
lieve in the Christian religion and did not hesitate to 
say so; that he had tried to persuade them to give up 
this superstition and take up with the teachings of rea¬ 
son and sound philosophy. He believed in Tom Paine’s 
Age of Reason, in Voltaire and Ingersol, and utterly 
rejected the Scriptures. While we were talking, Dr. 
Jonathan Bachman, brother of my old teacher, who 
was stationed as a Presbyterian preacher at Chatta¬ 
nooga, came in. He heard our argument and took up 
the cudgels and there was a sharp discussion for 
awhile. 

I went away with a sad feeling in my heart concern¬ 
ing my old school-mate. When I got on the train I 
took up a newspaper on the car seat and found some 
verses written by Ironquill, a former Congressman, 
who wrote under that nom de plume. It was called 
“The Washerwoman’s Song.” He was also a sceptic 
but he had laid down rules for those who entertained 
ideas of this character, and when I read it I clipped 
it out and sent it hack to my school-mate by mail at 
the first post office that I reached. I received a dreary 
letter from him with the inquiry, “How could you do 
so cruel a thing? I know of Ironquill’s life and how 
he came near losing his seat in Congress by the fourth 
verse of the piece that you sent me.” This fourth 
verse was as follows: 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


37 


“It’s a song I do not sing, 

For I scarce believe a thing 
Of the stories that she told 
Of the miracles of old; 

But I know that her belief 
Is the anodyne of grief 
And will always he a friend 
That will keep her to the end.” 

The following is the last verse of the poem: 

“Human hopes and human creeds 
Have their root in human needs; 

And I would not wish to strip 
From that washerwoman’s lip 
Any song that she can sing, 

Any hope that song can bring; 

For the woman has a friend 
Who will keep her to the end.” 

My school mate is dead now, but they told me that 
after reading Ironquill he was never known to try to 
force his opinions on unwilling persons. He kept them 
more to himself. 

Boone’s Creek was named for Daniel Boone, the 
great pioneer of Kentucky. I saw in the forest near 
to the Academy the tree on which it was said he had 
cut the following: 

“D. Boone cilled a bar upon this tree.” (Giving the 
date.) 

He had undoubtedly visited Boone’s Creek in his 
rounds and given name to the large creek that ran 
through the valley. 

There was a debating club organized from the cit¬ 
izens and students that met at stated intervals in the 
old field school house a short distance from the Acad¬ 
emy. Here the people gathered; selected some sub- 


38 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


ject for a debate; appointed speakers for each side 
and then met on Friday night to hear them argue the 
questions. My first experience of this sort occurred 
a short time after I had entered the school. The sub¬ 
ject up for debate the night of my attendance was 
“Which is preferable, Fame or Riches?” 

During the discussion Col. Martin, one of the neigh¬ 
bors, was cited as the most successful man in the val¬ 
ley. It was said of him that he had been a Represen¬ 
tative and then a Senator in the Tennessee Legislature. 
Consequently he had achieved fame and great success. 
This illustration made a deep impression on me and 
I concluded to set my sights for something like this 
as the achievement of my life. During the debate Col. 
Blue Bowers made a very remarkable speech. He was 
describing the greatness of our country and apostro¬ 
phized its emblem in these words: 

“Behold the American Eagle soaring through the 
clouds towards the high peaks of the mountains, with 
his beak in his bill and his talons in his claws.” 

This was such a high flight of fancy that it was 
taken up by the whole school and repeated with great 
gusto wherever two or three got together. 

Prof. Summers afterwards married a distant kins¬ 
woman of mine, a sister of Joe Lyle, my mess mate in 
the army, who is now living in Johnson City. 

While attending Boone’s Creek I made my first 
efforts at what I was then pleased to call “poetical 
effusion.” The efforts were crude and the verses were 
rugged and often stilted so much with imaginary sur¬ 
roundings that I feel no pleasure in reading them 
now. The word “pent up” would seem to express it 
better than anything else. There was some strug¬ 
gling toward the light, but it was only an effort of the 
inner spirit of the boy to express the pent up thoughts 
and feelings that characterized his age and advance. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


39 


THE WAR 

While attending the Academy under Prof. Lamp- 
son the War Between the States was declared. I had 
just passed fifteen years of age when the firing on Fort 
Sumter took place. 

There was a great comet seen in the year i860 that 
all East Tennessee people imagined portended some 
fearful event that was to come upon the world. This 
event was ushered in when the declaration of war took 
place. 

My father espoused the cause of the South. In 
this the family divided. My uncle, Nat G. Taylor, 
for whom I was named, and who held the most com 
spicuous position among the kindred at that time, took 
the side of the North. My uncle, Landon C. Haynes, 
with his brother, Mathew T. Haynes, both prominent 
lawyers, took the side of the South. Great excite¬ 
ment arose in every part of our country. The Govern¬ 
or of Tennessee, who was a distant relative, became 
an earnest advocate of secession. My father followed 
him and when delegates from Washington County to 
a secession convention were to be elected announced 
himself as a candidate on that platform. He was 
beaten badly, as the voting population of East Ten¬ 
nessee was overwhelmingly for the Union. A vigorous 
campaign was begun throughout the State to change 
the opinions of the State and in this campaign my 
father became a speaker, canvassing East Tennessee 
and meeting both Andrew Johnson and his son, Rob¬ 
ert Johnson, on the stump. 

I have heard that my father held his own with both 
of them but he always referred to Robert Johnson, 
who, by the way, was the oldest son of the then Sen¬ 
ator, in even more complimentary terms than he did 
to the father. He believed then that Robert John- 


40 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


son bade fair to become a greater man than his father, 
who subsequently became President. Out of this can¬ 
vass certainly grew a strong friendship between Mr. 
Johnson and my father. 

After the firing upon Fort Sumter opinions changed 
in Tennessee, and a very large proportion of the State 
became immediately enthused with the secession fervor. 
This was especially so in Middle and West Tennessee 
where the sentiment was almost unanimously for the 
South. In East Tennessee there was a sharp division, 
and the Southern sympathizers became so excited over 
the situation as to look upon the opposition as enemies 
of the country. This was largely so among many 
of the younger portion of the people. 

About this time Mr. Johnson made an appointment 
to speak in Jonesboro. As there was no hall large 
enough to hold the crowd it was decided to erect a 
stand in the street near the front of the court house 
for the speaking. Mr. Johnson appeared at the time 
arranged for, mounted the rostrum in the presence of 
a vast crowd that filled up every space in front and 
rear of the stand. He had hardly time to open his 
mouth before a terrible interruption occurred. The 
crowd became frantic, especially in front, and a sudden 
rush was made toward the platform. Men commenced 
calling out “Kill him—Kill him” and weapons were 
drawn in every directions. Bowie knives flashed over 
the heads of the audience and a strong, fierce attempt 
was made to reach the stand where Mr. Johnson stood. 
I was in the crowd looking on from an elevation I had 
secured and I never saw a more vicious attack made 
on a man in my life. The friends of Mr. Johnson had 
thrown themselves in front of the platform to stay 
the rush. Pistols were brandished, but fortunately 
none were discharged. The crowd attacking outnum- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


41 


bered two to one the friends who were defending Mr. 
Johnson and the result did not seem to me to admit of 
any doubt. He was in great danger. It was the ebul¬ 
lition of a pent up feeling on the part of the Southern 
sympathizers who believed they saw before them one 
of the principal agents that divided Tennessee with 
all the disloyalty that was supposed then to belong to 
such an advocate. The crowd rushed nearer every 
moment and were soon attempting to ascend the plat¬ 
form, reaching for Mr. Johnson. He stood in the 
face of the angry crowd without flinching. He 
certainly showed a bold front—as bold as any soldier 
ever showed in the great war that followed. But the 
crowd was equally determined. 

My father, as soon as the demonstration occurred, 
hurried around to the back of Mr. Johnson; ascend¬ 
ed the platform—stepped out in front of him; raised 
his hand and in a loud voice commanded the people 
to stop and listen to him. He said at once that they 
could not touch Mr. Johnson without passing over his 
body, adding that he had come today as a guest of 
the town and that he, my father, would die with him 
rather than he should be harmed. The appeal was 
heeded, the effort to reach Mr. Johnson ceased and 
the crowd subsided, but the statement was made that 
he must not speak; that he would be killed if he con¬ 
tinued to try to do so. My father counselled him to 
wait awhile and he took his advice. Within an hour 
or so a crowd was gathered together in the basement of 
the court house and there Mr. Johnson delivered his 
address. 

I have always thought that Mr. Johnson appre¬ 
ciated the act on the part of my father at the time, for 
after the war when my father died in exile, broken 
in heart and in fortune, Mr. Johnson announced his 
death by a special message to the Tennessee delegation. 


42 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


LAST SCENES OF THE SCHOOL SESSION 
AT MARTIN ACADEMY 

There was fair progress made in the studies during 
this session of the Academy, especially when there is 
taken into account the war excitement and the things 
that grew out of the declaration of the same. There 
was arming on all sides. Companies were formed, 
regiments were gathered and the preparation for a 
death struggle kept pace with the requirements of the 
time. The gray uniform and the Southern flag be¬ 
came familiar to all our eyes. Battles began to be 
fought and rumors of a thousand kinds reached 
our ears from all sides. I finished the Memorabilia 
of Socrates in Greek; read Herodotus, the father of 
history, also in Greek, completed the six books of the 
Aeneid, finished Tacitus; completed geometry and was 
ready for the Junior class in Emory & Henry College 
by the end of the session. We had a great exhibition 
which occurred in the court house and the speaking 
exhibited a strong Southern tone. I wrote my own 
speech that year. It was a eulogy of the Southern 
Cause and an effort at the justification of our stand 
in the war, and was undoubtedly well received, judg¬ 
ing by the applause. I took a forward part in this 
speaking and caught some of the Southern spirit, which 
has never left my heart. 

If I am to judge by the congratulations I received, 
I would say that my speech was a success. I closed It 
with the following original scrit: 

Answering the question whether the South would 
stand firm in the position taken, or fall back from it, 
I said: 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


43 


“No! No! you’ve risen bold and brave 
And cut the galling chains 
That bound you to the Northern hosts 
That now swarm through your plains. 
And now the flag of equal rights 
Is streaming proud on high, 

It’s gleaming stars now light the dome 
Of yonder azure sky. 

And you, my bold, brave countrymen, 
Be resolute and proud 
And make that flag a symbol high 
Of triumph or a shroud.” 


AN INCIDENT OF MY YOUNGER DAYS 

In the year preceding the Civil War, while I was 
living in East Tennessee, I was able to attend a debate 
that occurred in the court house at Jonesboro between 
Hon. Thomas A. R. Nelson and Hon. Landon C. 
Haynes—the latter my mother’s brother. 

They were running for Congress—Nelson on the 
Whig, or American ticket, and Haynes on the Demo¬ 
cratic side. They were both great lawyers. Haynes 
was known as the Eagle Orator of East Tennessee, as 
heretofore stated, while Nelson was put down as one 
of the strongest lawyers of the State. 

I shall never forget the impressions made upon my 
mind as I listened to these speeches. 

In our family Mr. Haynes was set down as the 
greatest speaker within our knowledge. He was after¬ 
wards elected Senator in the Confederate Congress, 
as I have stated before, and served through the 
whole war, while Mr. Nelson ran for Congress about 
the time war was declared and went through the lines, 
taking his seat at Washington, instead of Richmond. 


44 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


He was one of the attorneys who defended President 
Johnson on his impeachment trial after the war. 

It will be recollected that General B. F. Butler, on 
behalf of the House Committee, was the prosecutor 
of Mr. Johnson, while Groesbeck, Nelson and others 
appeared for the President. 

The Harpers, in one of their publications, got off 
a very harsh joke concerning Nelson and Butler. When 
I read it, it caused me a good deal of amuse¬ 
ment. The writer in Harpers’ said Messrs. Nelson 
and Butler got into a terrible controversy while the 
trial was going on—both calling each other several 
hard names and passing the lie. A challenge was the 
result and a duel followed. Nelson shot Mr. Butler 
through the breast and Butler shot Mr.. Nelson through 
the head. Neither was hurt. Butler had no heart 
and Nelson had no brains, was the conclusion that the 
duel disclosed. 

It is certain that the people of East Tennessee did 
not agree with the suggestion as to Nelson’s lack of 
brains. 

I remember a circumstance that occurred in the 
debate aforesaid. Colonel Haynes asked his oppo¬ 
nent whether if he were compelled to choose between 
a Republican and a Democrat he would vote for the 
Democrat in preference to the Republican. 

He demanded an answer and stopped for Col. Nel¬ 
son to make it. Colonel Nelson answered: “I can not 
conceive that such an alternative could ever be pre¬ 
sented, hut I do not hesitate to say that if I were com¬ 
pelled to make such a choice I would vote for the Re¬ 
publican in preference to the Democrat if the Repub¬ 
lican would drop his abolition proclivities.” 

It became a great word with us after that when we 
talked of “abolition proclivities.” 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


45 


MY WAR EXPERIENCE 

The war had been in progress about a year when 
I joined the army. I was just past sixteen. I enlisted 
some time before I was sworn in, probably about the 
first of March. The company was slow in forming, 
but when it was received we all took the oath, accord¬ 
ing to my recollection, about the first of May, 1862. 
I was small for my age, not well grown at all. My mus¬ 
cles were flabby and undeveloped and I had very little 
bodily strength, though I took part in all our school 
games and kept up with the boys in running, wrest¬ 
ling and other exercises. My father was very violently 
opposed to my joining the army, prophesying openly 
both to me and to Mother that I would not live longer 
than three months in the camp. 

The company that I joined was made up in Wash¬ 
ington and Knox Counties. The Captain was Alex¬ 
ander Blair, a Presbyterian minister. The First Lieu¬ 
tenant, J. R. McCollum; Second Lieutenant, James A. 
Carter, of Carter County, and the Third Lieutenant 
J. W. Squibb, of Jonesboro. We went into camp at 
Knoxville where we drilled some three or four months 
in Hardee’s Tactics. Col. W. A. Henderson, who 
afterwards became chief counsel of the Southern Road, 
was one of the drill masters, followed by Lieutenant 
Newman, kinsman of Judge Newman, of Georgia. I 
forget his initials. 

The company was afterwards called the Kirby Smith 
Rifles, and when the 63rd Tennessee was formed, be¬ 
came Company “D” in that splendid Veteran Regi¬ 
ment. The drilling was not an easy thing, and the 
officers kept us at it from day to day until our tired 
footsteps could move only with difficulty in the ranks. 
Some of the squads were very awkward and again 


46 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


and again our drill masters threatened to tie a bundle 
of hay on one foot and a bundle of straw on the other 
so we could tell our left from our right and step off 
all together as the drill master would shout “Hay foot 
—Straw foot.” When I reached the Army of North¬ 
ern Virginia I heard this screed repeated by the sol¬ 
diers who always put the burden on the North Caro¬ 
lina troops, as they were supposed to stand higher in 
awkwardness than any of the rest. I had always look¬ 
ed down on the Western North Carolina people and 
judged the whole State by the specimens I had seen 
from the counties bordering on East Tennessee. The 
old homestead is located directly on the road leading 
from Asheville in Buncome County and Burnsville in 
Yancey County, to Jonesboro. The specimens that I 
saw from these two counties gave me a low opinion 
of the North Carolina citizenry but I changed this 
speedily when I saw the boys that we called “Tar 
Heels” in battle. They could march further; hold up 
better; live on less; and fight more vigorously and suc¬ 
cessfully than any other part of our magnificent army. 
We called the division commanded by Gen Hoke, 
“Hoke’s Foot Cavalry.” We gave it this name be¬ 
cause oftentimes when the cavalry and infantry were 
ordered to proceed to a certain point the North Caro¬ 
lina boys on foot would beat the cavalry to the place. 
North Carolina now has the most splendid exhibition 
in the museum at Richmond containing the relics of 
that great struggle, of any state in the South, except 
Virginia. So I still sing as I was taught to do in my 
childhood: “Hurrah, the Old North State Forever!” 

“Tho’ the scorner may sneer at and witlings defame 
her 

Yet our hearts swell with gladness whenever we 
name her.” 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


47 


While the Company was drilling at Knoxville its 
members were called on frequently to do guard duty 
at various points in the city. One of the places guard¬ 
ed by members from the company was the county jail 
in which a number of political prisoners had been in¬ 
carcerated. It fell to my lot to be detailed one night 
to guard this prison, and I was afterwards informed 
that among the prisoners was Parson Brownlow who 
had been arrested for disloyalty and was being held 
either for trial or other disposition. He was after¬ 
wards released and sent across the line into Kentucky, 
as I understand. It is worthy of note that subsequently, 
when the war was over, he became Governor of Ten¬ 
nessee and brought about what was known as “Brown- 
low’s War,” which drove me from home and caused 
the exile of my father and family from Tennessee. I 
had no idea that he would pay me back in this way, 
for I am sure he was as unconscious of my presence 
as I was of his at the time I was guarding the prison. 

COOKED UP THE DISH RAG 

One day while we were in camp at Knoxville going 
through the preparatory drills necessary to make us 
into veterans, a lively circumstance occurred that di¬ 
versified our camp life. Our mess was known as num¬ 
ber nine and had eleven men in it—ten privates and 
one First Lieutenant. We cooked our own food—two 
of the mess cooking each day. The Lieutenant was 
excused from this sort of duty. One day when Joe 
Lyle and myself were taking our turn to cook dinner 
for the mess we had some Georgia peas to boil. They 
furnished us with a large, black camp kettle that we 
hung over the fire and in which we boiled the peas, 
with a little meat when we could get it, to season 
them. After the dinner was ready and the peas were 


48 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

done we all gathered around a temporary table to take 
the meal. The camp kettle with the peas was brought 
to the side of the table and the Lieutenant was asked 
to help himself first. We had a few dishes and the 
Lieutenant a plate of his own. He reached his spoon 
down and took out a large amount of the peas on his 
plate and with them the bacon, as we thought, which 
we had used to flavor the peas. After we had helped 
ourselves the Lieutenant exclaimed, as he was trying 
to cut the bacon in his plate: “This is the damdest, 
toughest piece of bacon I ever got hold of in my life,” 
and then we all turned around and laughed, as we saw 
he was trying to cut up the dish rag which we had 
cooked with the peas. I have always accused Joe Lyle, 
who now lives at Johnson City, of cooking this dish 
rag with the peas, because he was the cleanest, nicest 
man about cooking I ever met, and I think he used the 
dish rag much more than I did. The dish rag didn’t 
cause the loss of the peas, as we were too hungry to 
mind it. 


MY FIRST FIGHT 

The Company had been drilling for several months 
at Knoxville, Tenn., when word came that the enemy 
were invading Tennessee with the purpose of capturing 
Chattanooga. Orders came to us to march to the train 
and proceed to Chattanooga, some no miles distant. 
Gen. E. Kirby Smith was in command of the depart¬ 
ment and my company was appointed by him to act as 
his body guard at Chattanooga. After this we became 
known as the Kirby Smith Rifles—body guard to the 
General. When we reached Chattanooga we found 
the enemy had preceded us and was laying siege to the 
place. His guns were stationed on the far side of the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


49 


river and opened on our advancing ranks as soon as 
we got in sight. For the purpose of giving us a place 
in the army we were attached to the 31st Alabama 
Regiment under command of Colonel D. R. Hundley. 
We were drawn up in some timber when the shells be¬ 
gan to play heaviest upon us. A new officer who had 
been in battle before, was assigned to command us as 
he was supposed to have had some experience that 
would give us a better showing than our own officers 
could. Here I felt the first fright of the young soldier 
going into battle. My knees shook under me and I 
could scarcely stand erect, but I looked down the line 
and found I was not alone in this, as every one who 
was standing up under the fire was feeling the same. 
The mind was willing but the flesh was weak. My 
Captain and Second Lieutenant, seeing that something 
was necessary to steady the men, called for a chess 
board and sat down in front of the line playing chess 
with apparent equanimity. This gave us some con¬ 
fidence and every once and awhile as a shell dug up 
the ground and threw the dust over on the chess board 
the action of our Captain in taking up the board and 
pouring off the dust and sand and then starting anew 
had a very salutary effect on the line. By and by, the 
shells coming over us so fast caused the line to bend 
like a rainbow, the middle portion giving away and 
the ends standing fast. The consequence was the line 
became rainbow-shaped and just about that time the 
Colonel came by and, seeing the line bent in this fash¬ 
ion, commenced berating the Lieutenant, directing him 
to straighten the line at once. There were a number of 
trees standing by and some of the men took refuge 
behind these at the extremities, but this seemed to in¬ 
cense the Colonel and he made his dissatisfaction 
known to the Lieutenant who only muttered that he 


50 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


thought the men had a right to protect themselves. 
I thought the Colonel was very hard hearted when he 
denied any such right and had directed the Lieutenant 
to get the line straightened in a few minutes. 

About this time a railroad freight train passed some 
five hundred yards in our rear and moved along the 
line slowly away from us. I said to myself: “I would 
be willing to give one hundred thousand dollars to be 
aboard that train, and I would mortgage the whole 
future for the payment of the same,” but I never ran. 
So I think it was thus with many a soldier. The knowl¬ 
edge of the fact that there were people at home watch¬ 
ing and waiting to hear from him kept him at his place 
and sent him to the front and often to his death, on 
the day of battle. 

In this fight I first saw General John H. Morgan. 
He came up to Gen. Smith near where I was standing 
on the first day and proposed to cross the river a short 
distance down the way and asked Gen. Smith’s per¬ 
mission to do so, saying that he would soon find out 
“what those people were intending to do.” In his 
conversation he used several oaths and after he had 
gone I said to Joe Haynes, my cousin and comrade, 
“I wish he didn’t swear so much,” but Joe replied, 
“He swears like a gentleman, and you mustn’t think 
less of him.” So I have never forgotten that in the 
face of the enemy a man can swear like a gentleman, 
according to the views of the brave men who are under 
him. 

The result of the fight is well known, the enemy 
was soon repulsed and retreated, so our first conflict 
was successful. 

After our experience at Chattanooga the Company 
was treated as a regular organization and was sent to 
do guard duty at places along the line of railroad. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


51 


Our first work of this character was at Strawberry 
Plains, where we guarded the bridge over the Holston 
at that point. Here we drilled during the day and 
walked the guardsmen’s beat at night, as our details 
came around. Our bodies were gradually hardened 
by our drill work and we began to feel and act like 
soldiers. We were first armed with what was known 
as Joe Brown’s Pikes, but these were superseded soon 
after by the Mississippi rifle. With this we had con¬ 
stant experience on the target range and soon learned 
to handle the guns, at least with some skill. 

As I have stated in these memoirs, I had learned 
to shoot a rifle from a very early date in my life. When 
I began to practice on the target range with the Mis¬ 
sissippi rifle, the boys, who had seen evidences of my 
skill at former times, began to make prophesies that 
I would certainly lead the Company in the accuracy 
with which I could handle the rifle. I recall the morn¬ 
ing when I first went out for the practice with the boys. 
We shot at targets about one hundred yards distant. 
When my time came I raised the gun and tried to 
sight as usual at the center of the target. After I had 
fired, the target marker came up and threw a terrible 
damper over me by singing out that I was only sixth 
in the trial. My shots had gone to the border of the 
target on the right each time. 

It was a great disappointment to me and I felt all 
the chagrin of a boy who had bragged on himself and 
was left behind when the trial of skill came. I could 
not understand it until some good friend asked what 
kind of a trigger the rifle had that I had used before. 
I told him, of course, that it was a hair trigger set 
every time before shooting. Then he told me that as 
the Mississippi rifle had the shot-gun trigger, I pulled 
it off the target every time I shot. I took the lock off 


52 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


and filed the trigger till it approached the hair trigger 
style, and am glad to say that my reputation was soon 
restored. 

INDIANS AS SWIMMERS 

Bathing and swimming in the river was a favorite 
pastime. By far the best swimmer in the company 
was Doc Meek, of Embreeville. He was born and 
bred on the Nolachucky and had learned all the tricks 
of the daring swimmer, as he grew up to manhood. 

> We had in our company a boy named William 
Humphreys, who was recruited from the Eighth Dis¬ 
trict of Washington County. He was an old school¬ 
mate of mine—not very bright, but active and vigor¬ 
ous when it came to the work of the camp. While he 
could not swim at all, yet he was a regular attendant 
with the bathing crowd that went in the river every 
day. He got the benefit of the bath without the ex¬ 
ercise of the swim. 

One day his comrades went in the river, all able 
to swim, and going out into the center of the stream 
they came to a shallow place where they stood up and 
beckoned to Humphreys, who remained near the shore, 
to come to them. The poor boy, not knowing that the 
water was over his head between the shore and the 
point where the boys had stopped, started to wade to 
them. He was soon over his head and after struggling 
for awhile commenced to sink. The water was right 
swift at the point and carried him down the stream 
with great rapidity. The boys who had beckoned to 
him were utterly helpless when it came to rescuing him 
and the consequence was that Humphreys soon sank 
out of sight. Doc Meek and I were nearly a half 
mile away from the place, attending to some lit¬ 
tle matters about the camp when a runner came to- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


53 


wards us calling us to the river with the announcement 
that Bill Humphreys was drowning. Both of us turned 
and ran with all speed to the place. On the way I 
cast off my clothes, knowing that I would be required 
to go into the water. Doc Meek, however, kept his 
on, so that when we reached the bank of the river he 
was forced to wait until he could undress while I 
plunged into the river without a moment’s delay, the 
boys pointing out where Humphreys had sunk. 

A battalion of Indians under Col. Thomas was sta¬ 
tioned on the hills opposite to our camp on the far 
side of the river. These Indians had got the word that 
one of the white boys was drowning and likewise ap¬ 
proached the scene, arriving there about the time Doc 
Meek and I got to the place. They all took off 
their clothes and rushed into the river so that the 
water swarmed with swimmers. 

I dived under at the point where Humphreys had 
sunk but soon found that the water was so swift that 
it drove me down stream with great rapidity and I 
knew from this that Humphreys had been carried 
down the river a considerable distance. The water 
was about fifteen feet at the point where I began first 
to dive in search of the young man. It was not long 
before we were all carried below the bridge where the 
water was slightly eddy, but still about the same depth. 
While I was swimming under w'ater down stream 
with my eyes open I came suddenly upon the body 
stretched out on the bottom. There was no way that 
I could stop but I remember the cold feeling that came 
over me as my body touched his. I tried to hold him 
but could not do so and I went to the top of the water 
quickly in order to point out the place where he lay. 
The body followed me, however, and one of the In¬ 
dians caught sight of it and raising himself in the 


54 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


water pointed with his finger, crying out “Ki-yi, Ki-yi.” 
I swam to where he was and finally succeeded in seiz¬ 
ing the body by one of the hands. Then Doc Meek and 
the men who were present took my other hand to tread 
water and keep me from sinking after I had cried out 
that I had hold of the hand. I have thought many 
times that in treading water I held up about twenty 
Indians and about one-half the number of white people 
who were ostensibly giving me help. A boat had been 
rigged up and it came to us at once and pulled the 
body into it. Poor Bill had been in the water then 
about one-half an hour and they were not able to re¬ 
suscitate him. This was the first death that our com¬ 
pany suffered. Two things I remember in connection 
with this incident—first, that all the Indians swam like 
dogs, using their hands in the same way that the ani¬ 
mal does his paws, while the white men swam with 
the long strokes in the way they had been taught. They 
were better swimmers than the Indians, but, of course, 
could not hold out as long. The second thought that 
came to me from the event grew out of the feeling 
that I had when my body, in going down stream, moved 
along in touch with the drowned boy all the way from 
his knees to his head. There was a sensation of cold¬ 
ness, the memory of which has never passed away. 
Philosophers sometimes tell us that we can not re¬ 
member a feeling, but this is not correct in my case, 
for I can feel the cold touch of Bill Humphreys’ body 
to this day, as I looked into his wide, staring eyes 
while swimming under the water on that far-off sum¬ 
mer morning in 1862. Many times after this as I 
stood guard at night by the river the vision of the 
dead man came back to my young mind and I shiver¬ 
ed more than I should have done as a soldier prepar¬ 
ing himself for deadly warfare. Doc Meek’s laurels 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


55 


as a swimmer suffered a little from this event, but 
it was demonstrated that the white man surpassed 
the Indian in moving through the water. 

We were next stationed at Carter’s Depot, on the 
Watauga River, for guard duty. The bridge here had 
been set afire by the Union sympathizers in the moun¬ 
tains and it became necessary to guard the structure 
so as to keep up the communication with the Army in 
Virginia. 

Here I received my first wound, although it was self- 
inflicted. I was swimming in the river one day below 
the bridge at a point where the water dashed against 
the cliff. Diving and moving down stream very fast 
I rammed my head against a sharp portion of the cliff 
that could not be seen. The water was some eight feet 
deep and the shock was severe, cutting my head from 
the forehead backward in the place where a woman 
usually parts her hair. When I came to the surface 
my comrades saw that I was hurt, as the blood was 
spinning out in the water and I had some difficulty in 
swimming. They rushed to me and soon had me on 
the bank where they tried to stop the blood. The offi¬ 
cers gave me a furlough for thirty days and I went 
home to my father at Jonesboro who doctored the gash 
and soon had me ready for work again. 

From Carter’s Station we were carried next to what 
was then called Zolicoffer, afterwards Union Station, 
and known now as Bluff City. Here we remained only 
a short time and were moved to Knoxville and thence 
to Loudon on the Tennessee, where our Company, with 
other volunteer organizations, was combined to make 
up the 63rd Tennessee Infantry, under command of 
Col. R. G. Fain; Lieut.-Col. Abe Fulkerson and Major 
John Alfred Aiken. We became Company “D” in the 
regiment and this continued as a permanent organiza- 


56 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


tion for what had heretofore been known as “the Kirby 
Smith Rifles.’’ 

Our first battalion drilling was given us by Col. Abe 
Fulkerson, who was already an experienced officer and 
very well informed in the business. He afterwards 
became Colonel of the Regiment and remained with 
it until the end. 

TRANSFER AND ARREST 

One morning, while sitting in the camp, the mail 
distributor came around to the tent where my cousins, 
Joe Haynes and John Frank Gifford, were seated with 
me and handed each of us an official document having 
on it the postmark of Department Headquarters at 
Knoxville. We opened the document and found that 
it was an order signed by the Major General in com¬ 
mand of the Department, Gen. Sam Jones, ordering 
each of us to report to Knoxville at his headquarters 
for assignment to duty. This, we saw, was a prac¬ 
tical transfer from the company and regiment to head¬ 
quarters service. We notified the commanding officer 
of the receipt of this order and prepared to obey the 
same. It seemed there was an early morning train 
and on this the Colonel of the regiment embarked for 
Knoxville, as we found out afterwards, to enter a 
protest against the order. This, however, we knew 
nothing about then, and at the time of the mid-day 
train we gathered our hand bags together and went 
to the depot in order to carry out the instructions we 
had received. While waiting to take the train the 
officer of the day, with a file of soldiers, appeared on 
the platform and arrested us. He directed us to march 
back to the regiment. Of course we were overwhelmed 
with astonishment, and scarcely knew what we ought 
to do. On the one hand we held the order of the Major 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


57 


General directing us to report, and on the other was 
the officer of the day re-inforced by a strong file of 
soldiers from the camp, ordering us to return. Of 
course we yielded to the power in sight, but on the 
way back my cousin, Joe Haynes, asked permission to 
send a telegram. This the officer of the day allowed, 
stating that he had no orders to prevent it, and Joe 
telegraphed to his father at Knoxville, Senator Lan- 
don C. Haynes, telling him of our plight. We heard 
afterwards that when Col. Haynes received his son’s 
telegram he proceeded at once to the office of the com¬ 
mander of the department and laid the facts before 
General Jones. Just as he had finished his narrative 
Col. Fain stepped into the office. The commander of 
the department was considerably incensed and, without 
greeting Col. Fain or acknowledging his salute, said 
to him, “Col. Fain, I understand that you have ar¬ 
rested the three young men that were ordered to re¬ 
port to these headquarters this morning. Go to the 
telegraph office at once and send a telegram to Col. 
Fulkerson, directing him to turn these young men 
loose, and forward them to these headquarters. Let 
there be no mistake in obeying this order.” Col Fain, 
without a word of explanation, immediately sought the 
telegraph office and sent the required order. Mean¬ 
time we had waited through the long day in the guard 
tent until finally the Adjutant of the regiment proposed 
to us that if we would give him our parole not to leave 
the camp we could be at liberty within its hounds. Of 
course we gave this. Meanwhile the regiment received 
an order to take train that night and proceed to Tul- 
lahoma without delay to join Bragg’s army. 

We had never intended to leave the regiment but 
for the arrest that had been made. Our purpose was 
to take a short furlough and then come back to our 


58 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


places again. It happened, however, that as the offi¬ 
cer of the day and the file of soldiers carried us back 
to the guard tent, we met the regiment coming out of 
camp to the drill ground and we were marched along 
the whole flank with the officer of the day and a file of 
soldiers at our backs, thereby, as Joe Haynes said, with 
tears in his eyes, “disgracing us forever.” It is true 
Col. Fulkerson stated to us, as we were marching back 
to the camp and had stopped in front of the regiment, 
that “he expected to be court martialed for what he 
was doing, but he intended to see if he had any rights 
left in the Confederate Army.” 

When the order came to prepare to take the train 
for Tullahoma we made all preparations necessary, 
sent our baggage to the depot; gathered up our knap¬ 
sacks and re-packed them and went down to the depot 
and boarded the train with the regiment. 

I had a trunk containing many articles that my 
mother had sent me which was loaded on the train 
among the other baggage. 

About half an hour after dark, while we were all 
sitting in the box car waiting for the train to move, 
Adjutant York came to the door of the box car and 
said: “Are Privates Haynes, Gifford and Harris in 
this car?” We answered promptly that we were there, 
whereupon he said: “ You are ordered to disembark 
at once and get ready to go to Knoxville.” Needless 
to say this was a great surprise, and we suggested that 
our baggage at that time was inaccessible, but the Ad¬ 
jutant replied that we could leave word and have this 
forwarded to us, as our connection with the regiment 
was at an end. 

We left by first train for Knoxville and reported 
next day at Department Headquarters. General Jones 
directed me to repair to what was then known as 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


59 


Haynesville, now Johnson City, and report to Col. 
Robert Love, commanding the 62nd North Carolina, 
stationed at the old Brush Creek camp ground near 
the town. So the three cousins became separated and 
remained so the balance of the war. I went at once 
to the point designated and reported to Colonel Love. 
He was a kinsman of my mother and when he looked 
me over I suppose I seemed so small and so insignifi¬ 
cant as to count very little in his estimation, and he 
directed me to go home to my mother and remain for 
thirty days on furlough; by that time he said further 
orders might be received concerning my future. When 
I reached home I found my father had been appointed 
by Col. John H. Crawford surgeon of his regiment, 
known as the 60th Tennessee. This regiment was 
raised in Washington and adjacent counties, and my 
father had aided the Colonel in getting it up and or¬ 
ganizing and mustering it into service. He was in 
camp and, instead of remaining with my mother for 
the thirty days, I went to the camp to stay with my 
father. Col. Crawford gave me the temporary appoint¬ 
ment of Sergeant Major in the regiment and I learned 
the duties of that office and performed them to the best 
of my ability until a second order was received direct¬ 
ing me to report to Captain W. D. Haynes, Post 
Quartermaster at Knoxville for service. 

Capt. Haynes was soon assigned to duty in the Vir¬ 
ginia brigade commanded by Gen. William E. Jones, 
and I was carried with him as an assistant in his office. 
He acted as Brigade Quartermaster until Gen. Jones 
was killed at Piedmont. After the death of Gen. 
Jones, Captain Haynes was transferred to the 16th 
Virginia Cavalry and I continued the assistant in his 
office, attending to most of the business, in fact all of 
it, after his capture in one of the raids in East Ten¬ 
nessee. 


60 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


INCIDENTS OF SERVICE WITH JONES’ BRI¬ 
GADE, LONGSTREET AND THE STONE 
MOUNTAIN MONUMENT, ETC. 

Before joining General Jones’ Brigade, Captain 
Haynes managed the business of Post Quartermaster 
in Knoxville for a short while. He was afterwards 
stationed at Morristown for a period and then at 
Jonesboro. 

When Longstreet followed up the battle at Chick- 
amauga with an expedition through East Tennessee, 
finally surrounding the city of Knoxville, in which was 
a Federal force commanded by General Burnside, my 
cavalry command under General William E. Jones, 
was ordered to re-enforce Gen. Longstreet at Knox¬ 
ville. 

We reached Knoxville about the first of December, 
if I recall the date correctly, arriving on the scene the 
night preceding Gen. Longstreet’s assault on Fort 
Sanders, known as the “Star Fort,” in the northwest 
portion of Knoxville. 

The assault took place about four o’clock in the 
morning. Gen. Jones and I, with others of his 
staff, stood up on an elevation almost due north of 
Knoxville and watched the attempt to take the fort. 
While standing at this place General Jones made me 
explain to him the location of Knoxville, as I had 
been stationed there in the first part of my service for 
a considerable time, as before stated, and had fre¬ 
quently explored the surroundings. 

I will never forget how strongly Gen. Jones spoke 
about what he was pleased to call a blunder by Gen. 
Longstreet in attacking the strongest position on the 
Federal lines. He even went so far as to state that 
Gen. Longstreet was either misled or showed a judg- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


61 


ment that was utterly unworthy of a leader of any in¬ 
dependent army. The assault did fail, and when day¬ 
light came our troops were withdrawn, and Longstreet 
prepared to retreat, leaving Burnside in full posses¬ 
sion. He heard that re-enforcements were on the way 
for the relief of Knoxville. 

General Longstreet afterwards suspended General 
McLaws, putting him in arrest and proposing to 
court martial him, as we believed then, for carrying 
out General Longstreet’s own orders but failing to 
take the fort. 

The outspoken way in which Gen. Jones declared 
his views concerning Gen. Longstreet’s action always 
served to discount with me that general’s merits and 
I have never recovered from it. 

General Longstreet was a great soldier—magnifi¬ 
cent in action when under the orders of Lee, but seem¬ 
ed to be incompetent to manage a separate command. 

After the war, General Longstreet accepted a po¬ 
sition tendered him by General Grant at New Orleans 
and left his old comrades to go with their opponents. 
He says he differed with General Lee in politics, giving 
this as an excuse for accepting the office under General 
Grant immediately after the termination of the war. 
He lost “caste” with all the Southern soldiers by his 
course in this respect. Even the soldiers of his own 
corps which always held the center of Lee’s army and 
did the steady fighting in the great struggles in Vir¬ 
ginia, felt aggrieved that he should apparently desert 
them in these troublous times. I have heard them 
abuse him, but again I have heard these same men 
stop the mouths of outsiders and declare with an oath 
that they themselves could abuse Longstreet but no¬ 
body else should do it. He was the sturdy bull dog 
of our armies. 


62 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


When he was writing his work which he called 
“From Manassas to Appomattox,” I sat by him in the 
dining room of the Kimball House and conversed with 
him many times while he remained there. In one of 
these conversations I asked him why he did not come to 
our reunions—that we missed him at times. He replied: 
“The soldiers do not appear to desire my presence 
among them. We do not harmonize.” I replied: “I 
think you are wrong, General, and I wish you would 
try it by joining us at the next reunion.” 

Meantime he finished his book and someone sent me 
a copy of it. I carried it home and sat down after 
supper to read it. It was beautifully written—fervid 
in diction—full of splendid thoughts, and imagery, 
and I was carried away with it as I read. 

When I had gotten as far as the Gettysburg fight 
I sat down and wrote a letter to the General thanking 
him for the book and telling him that he need never 
stay away from our reunions again on the idea that 
he was not wanted. Since his writing this splendid 
book we could take him into our hearts with increased 
love and admiration and give him a welcome second 
to none that we gave others. 

After I had finished the letter, sealed it, and started 
to mail it in a box near the front walk on the street, 
a heavy rain came up and I went back into the library 
and as I sat down concluded that I might as well finish 
the work before I sent off the letter. Then I read his 
account of the Gettysburg fight and in the third head¬ 
ing, his assault on General Jackson and General Lee. 

It almost broke my heart, as most of my service in 
the army was rendered in Jackson’s corps. I had 
known that there was a jealousy between Jackson and 
Longstreet, but I had no idea that this feeling had 
survived the war and on the part of General Long- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


63 


street had extended itself to the Commander-in-Chief. 

I could have probably borne with some equanimity 
the attack on General Jackson, but when General Lee 
was included I gave way entirely and taking up my let¬ 
ter tore it into fragments and, raising the window, 
threw the book out into the rain, and so far as I am 
concerned it has remained there to the present day. 

At our last reunion at Rome some of his old soldiers 
presented a resolution asking that the committee in 
charge of the Stone Mountain monument should put 
General Longstreet’s statue by the side of General 
Lee’s. 

It was a great trial to me, but I understood the feel¬ 
ing of these old soldiers for their leader and I could 
not oppose it. I seconded the motion and aided Judge 
Hillyer, of Atlanta, in having it adopted. 

Lee, without Longstreet, would have been only half 
himself, and Longstreet would have been honored 
more by his absence than by putting his form by the 
side of his Chieftain. 

I do not know what the committee will do. In fact, 
I have little knowledge of the progress of that great 
monument. It was first projected during my term as 
Governor, and the first meeting of the Daughters of 
the Confederacy that I ever attended passed the reso¬ 
lution commending the proposal for the monument and 
pledging the Daughters to support it. 

I went down to the hall where the meeting was tak¬ 
ing place and walked into the assembly alongside of 
Mrs. Helen Plane, and ascending the stage made a 
short talk preceding Mrs. Plane. 

It has always been the rule that the Governor in 
office shall precede any person in any procession or any 
gathering occurring in the State during his term. In 
this respect he is treated as the King of England would 


64 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


be. When I came to the door of the assembly where 
the Daughters were gathered I decided that for one 
time I would refuse to abide by this rule and I directed 
Mrs. Plane to take the lead, and in this order we went 
upon the rostrum. 

So much for the monument. 

Our brigade fell back from Knoxville toward Bris¬ 
tol, fighting several severe engagements at Beans Sta¬ 
tion and other places and finally taking up temporary 
winter quarters in the country around about Bristol 
and Blountville. While here, Gen. Jones made his 
raid through Tazewell Court House to Scottsboro, 
where he captured a large number of prisoners. 

After the winter had passed, he was ordered to 
gather all the forces possible and throw himself into 
the front of the army under General David Hunter, 
coming up the Shenandoah Valley towards Lynchburg. 
In this campaign occurred the battle of Piedmont where 
he was killed in the act of rallying his troops, riding 
in front and calling them to halt and face the enemy. 

He was really a great leader. While my position 
was with Captain Haynes in the brigade quartermas¬ 
ter’s office, yet he designated me as a temporary Aide- 
de-Camp and I rode with him on many occasions. He 
had had much experience in the army of Northern Vir¬ 
ginia, commanded the First Virginia Cavalry at the 
second battle of Manassas, became a great favorite 
and faithful ally of Stonewall Jackson. He often rode 
a horse which we called “old clay bank,” that General 
Jackson gave him as a present, and the horse became 
a favorite among us all because Jackson once rode him 
on the battle line. 

General Jones had been a professor in the Virginia 
Military Institute and in this way doubtless became at¬ 
tached to General Jackson. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


65 


He was a man of splendid judgment, fitted for a 
great leader, and I think would have taken Stuart’s 
place had he lived till after the death of that match¬ 
less cavalry leader. 

I remember an occurrence in Virginia while we were 
occupying our temporary winter quarters. On one Sun¬ 
day afternoon some of our teamsters mounted their 
mules and started out to run a race with each other. 
The road they proposed to follow ran close to the head¬ 
quarters of Maj.-Gen. Robert Ransom. He saw the 
hoys laying on with the whip and yelling with all their 
might, as they came down the road and he promptly or¬ 
dered a file of soldiers to arrest every one of them and 
put them in the guard house. When General Jones heard 
of this he sent me down to Gen. Ransom with a mes¬ 
sage asking the General to pardon the boys and send 
them back to their wagon train. We had no one to 
take their places and look after the teams. When I 
came to the tent where General Ransom was sitting I 
presented the request from General Jones and the 
order was promptly given to release the men and send 
them back to their command. As I started to leave, 
Gen. Ransom said to me, “You all think a great deal 
of General Jones, do you not?” I replied, “We cer¬ 
tainly do. We think he is a great man.” General 
Ransom replied: “I thought you did, and I want you 
to tell General Jones for me that I’ve got more brains 
in my little finger than he has in his head.” When he 
said this I bowed very profoundly and stated that I 
would certainly give General Jones the message, and 
added, “I have no doubt he will be very much pleased 
to know what you think of him, General.” I saw a 
quickening look in Ransom’s eyes as I said this, and I 
concluded it was best to get away from him as soon 
as I could. When I gave General Jones the message, 


66 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


he said to me: “Well, I always thought he didn’t 
have much sense, but I know now that he has less.” 

I suppose General Ransom lost his grip now and 
then and spoke at a venture things that he would not 
have spoken in other moments. He was a graduate 
of West Point and held a high command throughout 
the remainder of the war. 

I recall a ludicrous incident that transpired when we 
were on the march to re-enforce General Longstreet 
at Knoxville. Both infantry and cavalry were march¬ 
ing with all haste to reach the scene of conflict in time 
to render assistance. It was somewhere about the first 
of December and a terrible freeze came on with snow 
and ice covering the roads and hills. I tried after¬ 
wards to put the incident into verse, and I venture to 
repeat these verses here. They were written the lat¬ 
ter part of 1865 at our home on Pine Log, Bartow 
County, Georgia: 


THE DRUMMER’S DEFEAT 

A cold December morn had broke, 

And Boreas blustering chilly 
Tossed up the snow and wailed amid 
The barren heathers, hilly. 

Our column roused at early dawn, 
Sprang from their bivouac mortress, 
And ’gan the long and weary march 
To Knoxville’s ’leagured fortress. 

The road was blocked with snow and ice, 
In frosty masses gleaming, 

While through our tatters smote the blast 
In frozen numbers screaming. 

But on we marched with weary step 
Amid the drifting masses, 

Though shoeless oft our bleeding feet 
Would stain the frozen passes. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


67 


At length we reached the Holston’s bank, 

A bridgeless, rolling river, 

Whereon, irresolute, we stopped 
Dismayed, to groan and shiver. 

The Colonel bade us plunge within 
The dreadful icy water, 

But not a man his steps would move 
To do his cruel order. 

A courier then he sent in haste 
To bring our General forward; 

“He’d make the shivering scoundrels wade 
Or drown the last damned coward.” 

Our gallant drummer marching front, 

No stagnant blood possessing, 

Stepped quickly forth with flashing eye, 
The Colonel thus addressing: 

“And who is Ransom, pray do tell, 

That we must needs obey him? 

There’s many a private in these ranks 
In worth would far outweigh him!” 

“Ah! yes, but he’s our General, friend, 

And bears our country’s prestige, 

And you to question him have not, 

Of right, the smallest vestige.” 

“I care not for his hedging strength,” 

The soldier answered nobly 

“A freeman I will live, or die 
A tyrant’s foeman doubly. 

“If I am got within that wave 
This dreadful wintry morning 
Then other feet must take me there, 

Or first my own o’erturning.” 

But Ransom came and frowned and stormed, 
And talked of blood and slaughter, 

And rushing on the stubborn man, 

He pitched him in the water! 

Such was the chilly fate which met 
That day the daring drummer; 

He broke the ice—the column plunged 
Amid the frosty glimmer. 


68 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


GENERAL JONES ON FORAGING 

On the Quartermaster’s staff was a gentleman from 
Hawkins County named Waterson. He had studied 
law with my uncle, Landon C. Haynes, and when Cap¬ 
tain Haynes was assigned to the field portion of the 
brigade quartermaster’s work, Mr. Waterson was de¬ 
tailed to assist him. He was my superior in rank, 
but we got on very well as comrades. He brought 
with him a negro servant named “Gib,” who was ex¬ 
pected to look after his master and at the same time 
do the cooking for our mess in the Quartermaster’s 
office. Gib was a fine darkey; very faithful and stood 
by us on many a hard march and even closed up with 
us on the battle field. 

While we were camped in Virginia, in temporary 
winter quarters, General Jones issued a very stringent 
order against foraging, pronouncing a severe penalty 
against any man that was caught plundering the citi¬ 
zens, robbing hen roosts or hog pens. We did not 
know how far this order would extend. We remem¬ 
bered it was said that General Bragg ordered a man 
shot in the Tennessee Army for taking a chicken from 
one of the citizens. We were all, therefore, very care¬ 
ful concerning this matter. 

One day General Jones sent us word that he would 
take dinner with us at the Quartermaster’s mess in 
our tent. We had plenty of dishes but something to 
eat was the main object, for the visit of the General 
was a compliment to us. 

The truth of it is that very scant rations were issued 
to our troops. We generally tried to supplement them 
by buying provisions of the citizens and when this 
failed we resorted to foraging—which last resort was 
now strictly prohibited to us. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


69 


I did not myself approve of foraging, but found it 
was impossible to keep such a feeling in mind when 
I reached the Army of Virginia. It reminded me of 
an anecdote that I used to hear, about a colored 
preacher who was giving in his experience to his con¬ 
gregation. He said: “Brethren, when I first came 
to this congregation I couldn’t take a pin without 
hurting my conscience. But, brethren, I persevered and 
grew in grace, and now, bless the Lord, I could steal 
a horse without feeling it at all.” 

We told Gib that the General intended to take din¬ 
ner with us on the morrow and to get up the best 
meal he could. Gib was equal to the occasion, and 
when we all sat down to the table Gib handed the Gen¬ 
eral a fine dish of well-cooked pork. He helped him¬ 
self and the dish went around to us all. We had eaten 
for awhile when the General suddenly turned in his 
seat and called to Gib and said: “Gib, where did 
you get this pork?” There was a profound silence 
for awhile, and then the General, looking around at 
us all, repeated his question to Gib. Gib came up to 
the General’s side and said: “No darn hog shall come 
rooting up my fire at night and get off scot free.” 
There was silence for a little while and then the Gen¬ 
eral laughed, and so did all of us, and turning around 
to Gib he said, “Gib, hand me some more of that 
pork.” We knew we were safe, and rejoiced. 

While we were in temporary winter quarters Cap¬ 
tain Haynes stayed most of the time at home. He 
had married a young lady who was my mother’s sis¬ 
ter, and had fixed his home in Blountville, Tennessee. 
The distance was too small to keep him away from 
home, so Waterson and I attended to the brig¬ 
ade business and got along very well with the General 
and the worK. We wrote some of his reports and 


70 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


he called me Lieutenant, so that I was addressed 
in this way throughout the brigade. 

As soon as the weather improved we were ordered 
to the front to prepare for active service. The long 
march to the Valley soon followed and the General 
gathering all the troops available, drew them into the 
front of Hunter’s Army and fought the terrible battle 
at Piedmont where he was killed, as I have stated 
above. 

JOINING THE 16TH VIRGINIA CAVALRY 

The 16th Virginia Cavalry Regiment was recruited 
mainly from the counties in Northwestern Virginia 
along the Kanawha and Greenbrier and other tributary 
streams. One Company, however, was from Washing¬ 
ton County and another from what is now Bland 
County, in the Southwestern portion of Virginia. The 
Colonel was M. J. Ferguson; the Lieutenant-Colonel, 
William A. Graham and the Major was James Nou- 
nan. The Adjutant was James P. Whitman, who lived 
since the war at a place called Horsepen, in Tazewell 
County, and was alive at my last accounts. 

The regiment had been with the Army of North¬ 
ern Virginia from the time it was mustered into serv¬ 
ice in the latter part of 1861; fought at Gettysburg, 
and was already classed as a veteran command when 
I joined it. I reported for duty after the Piedmont 
fight. But the regiment had been with us during our 
service in Virginia under General Jones. 

When I reached the regiment it was in camp near 
Tazewell Court House, in Tazewell County, South¬ 
western Virginia. Major Nounan was in command 
of the regiment. Col. Ferguson had been captured 
and was in prison and Colonel Graham was on a fur¬ 
lough at the time. I seemed to be very well received 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


71 


by the officers of the regiment to whom I reported. 
There was no commissary attached to the regiment 
and the Quartermaster was required to attend to both 
the business of foraging for the horses, feeding, cloth¬ 
ing, and paying off the men. When I reached the 
regiment a large number of the men and officers had 
been furloughed to go to their homes to secure new 
mounts and other things necessary for camp life. Now 
and then they were captured on these raids, but as a 
general rule returned in better condition than when 
they left. 

I had an opportunity to become well acquainted with 
Major Nounan. I soon grew greatly attached to him 
as he had some traits that were not only remarkable 
but stirred the imagination of a young soldier like 
myself. 

Of course I could not know him as a soldier in the 
field till I had had an opportunity to see him in battle. 

I look back on my acquaintance with him as an epi¬ 
sode in my life as remarkable as it was rare and 
unusual. 

In the light of the sixty years that have gone by 
I am still able to describe him as one of the most re¬ 
markable men I have ever met. 

He had served in Kansas against Ossawotamie 
Brown when the Kansas Jayhawkers were causing so 
much trouble in their celebrated rebellion. Coming 
to Virginia he was made a Major and assigned to 
duty in the 16th Cavalry. Though he was a man with 
fine features, yet I have often thought that he had two 
natures within him. In the camp he dressed like a 
servant—never washed, nor combed his hair nor put 
on clean garments, but presented at all these times the 
appearance of some day laborer, digging ditches in the 
swamps—dirty, haggard and worn. This was the 


72 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


man in camp. But the man in battle was a new crea¬ 
ture. He rode his horse like a centaur—his eyes 
flashed and glistened—glistened and flashed with fire 
that could scarce be paralleled. His garments were 
even transfigured, and as he dashed to the front he 
reminded me of a plumed war god, spoken of by old 
Homer when the heathen divinities came down to take 
part in the conflict at Troy. He was a born leader of 
men. His voice was shrill and clear, and enthused his 
followers—sounding like a trumpet in their ears. He 
was a transfigured Nounan, when the battle day was 
come. Some men are doubtless so made. They are 
careless, improvident, showing not the slightest care 
for appearance or fitness, but at some time when their 
latent powers are called out they become different per¬ 
sons—a new spirit awakes within them—a new soul 
comes to life, and they ride to the front as if they 
were born to meet emergencies and to grapple with 
difficulties. Are there any Nounans left among us? 

When Col. Graham returned to the regiment, I 
found him to be a very kind and agreeable officer. He 
gave me a great deal of encouragement and helped 
me on in the earlier work that fell on me, as Captain 
Haynes was almost always absent. I remember tell¬ 
ing both Nounan and Graham that I had learned to 
like them, but I was afraid it would be different when 
Col. Ferguson returned, so I said to them, “I don’t 
care i-f he never comes back.” 

In this, however, I was mistaken. For when the 
Colonel returned to us and I learned to know him, 
I seemed to get closer to him than to any other man 
I had ever known in the army. He treated me well 
in every sense. While a little more exacting than the 
other two officers had been, for he realized that his 
word was always law in the regiment, yet he was ready 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


73 


to give credit for good service, kept his men and offi¬ 
cers under splendid discipline, and in all things showed 
himself to he in every sense a true descendant of some 
of old Virginia’s fighting families. 

These officers in command of this regiment were as 
brave as any men that ever wore a uniform, and my 
long experience—writing now—justifies me in saying 
that a really brave man can never be cruel or unreason¬ 
able in dealing with his men. It doesn’t lie, generally, 
in a brave soldier to be a tyrant. There are some ex¬ 
ceptions, but there were none among the field officers 
of the 16th Virginia. 

Colonel Ferguson was a nobleman of the old school. 
He was a soldier, every inch of him, but he had the 
habit of getting wounded in almost every conflict in 
which our regiment was concerned. He took off his 
clothes in the tent once and called me to look at him. 
There was scarcely a place on his body as large as my 
hand that did not have the scar of some old wound. 
He said, laughingly, as I looked at him in wonder, 
“Well, they will get me after awhile, I reckon.” But 
they did not. He survived the war—settled down, 
and practiced law at Louisa Court House in Virginia, 
and left a record of unsurpassed bravery for his coun¬ 
trymen. In one of the forays which was made toward 
the Greenbrier Country, Col. Ferguson was taken pris¬ 
oner by the enemy. After he had been in prison for 
awhile, he was sent to Charleston where he was put 
under fire with the Immortal Six Hundred to stand off 
the attacks on Fort Sumter. The authorities of the 
Government at Washington imagined they could stop 
the fire of our batteries from Moultrie and Sullivan 
Island and other fortifications, on Fort Sumter by 
bringing a number of our soldiers to the fort so that 
if we fired on the fort they would suffer from our 


74 


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shells. Col. Ferguson was among these victims of our 
enemy’s tactics and stood the exposure for some time 
in company with his comrades in the awful experience 
which resulted. After a time his exchange was effected 
and he came into Charleston, where the ladies de¬ 
termined to make him some return for the suffering 
he had endured near their city. They wined and feted 
him and then purchased a splendid uniform with all 
that belonged to such an outfit. He wore this uniform 
when he came back to us and had it on at Winchester. 
The hat was especially attractive, covered as it was 
with gold bands and acorns hanging down on each 
side. 

At the battle of Winchester, on September 19th, 
1864, while he was in command of the regiment and 
guarding the front towards Martinsburg, his com¬ 
mand was suddenly assaulted by a strong detachment 
of cavalry. This detachment drove our forces back 
and followed us in flight down the pike. As we were 
proceeding to form junction with the main line a cannon 
shot crashed through our ranks, a piece of the shell 
striking the Colonel in the forehead. He always 
parted his hair in the middle, from which fact we 
gave him the nick-name of “Old Nancy.” The frag¬ 
ment of shell followed the line made by the parted 
hair, cutting to the bone as it went and tearing his 
hat into fragments. 

He fell from his horse to the ground but the boys, 
who were especially skilled in such matters, reached 
down and lifted him to the saddle and carried him out 
of danger. He would have been trodden to death in 
a moment but for this. The shot put him in the hos¬ 
pital for some weeks. He had his hat patched up 
and was still wearing it when he came back to the 
camp. After we had shaken hands he took it off and 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


75 


said to me : “My head has gotten well, but my hat, alas, 
will never recover.” This was all he ever said about 
so serious a wound. 

I said he was brave. I saw him once ride in front 
of our lines when we were standing behind breast¬ 
works, erected by Gen. Jackson in the Valley, while 
twenty pieces of artillery turned loose with grape and 
canister upon him. He never flinched as the shot and 
shell tore up the ground about him and he rode as 
steady as if on parade back and forth along the battle 
line. It was done to steady his men and to minify the 
danger. No one blamed him for his exhibition of 
courage; he was not touched. 

WYTHEVILLE AND HOW IT FEELS TO 
KILL A MAN 

In the summer of 1864 General Averill, the Union 
Cavalry leader, made a raid into Southwestern Vir¬ 
ginia. After many incidents of cavalry warfare he 
finally reached the vicinity of Wytheville, Va. Here 
my regiment, the 16th Virginia Cavalry, with other 
troops, was ordered to meet and give him battle. It 
happened that Gen. John H. Morgan, who had lately 
returned to the South, after escaping from the prison 
in Ohio, was present and took command of our troops 
that day. A portion of the 16th regiment was detached 
and sent to the top of the mountain on the right of our 
line to prevent the enemy from flanking the gap in 
which Gen. Morgan had stationed a small piece of 
artillery with supports to oppose the enemy’s advance. 
I went with the detachment and it was soon engaged in 
a sharp struggle with a flanking party of the enemy 
that had already started before our arrival. We held 
the enemy in check for some hour or two, our soldiers 


76 


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firing down the mountain side with little effect save 
to show that we were present and ready for the ad¬ 
vance. After awhile our ammunition was exhausted 
and the Colonel sent me to the commanding General 
to ask for another supply. When I reached Gen. Mor¬ 
gan I told him of our circumstances. I remember as 
I spoke his hand came down on his knee as he replied: 
“I expected it. I can’t send him any ammunition but 
I will send him another battalion to re-inforce him. 
That is the best I can do.” The enemy had come 
down the pike within about five hundred yards of the 
place where the General was standing and I could 
see was preparing to charge our position. The Gen¬ 
eral called about him a number of soldiers who were 
unengaged and directed them to prepare to resist the 
advance. I had a little Sharp’s rifle, and knowing that 
it would carry further than the guns around me, I 
prepared to fire at the head of the column before it 
got in range. Setting the sights at what I conceived to 
be the proper distance I leveled the gun at the head 
of the column as it began to move in our direction 
and fired. I saw a man fall from the front rank as 
my gun spoke to the hills around us. The men cried 
out: “You got that fellow that time,” but a moment 
afterwards all the guns were roaring around us and 
the head of the approaching column sank to the 
ground. The little piece of artillery in the General’s 
hands poured a charge into the very midst of the on¬ 
coming foe and spread havoc through all his lines. 
Our flanking party reached the road about this time 
and the consequence was the surrendering of some 
two hundred and fifty men of the enemy. I moved 
slowly down the pike, curious to find out whether my 
shot had really been effective. When I got to the point 
where the man had fallen I found his body still lying 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


77 


in the road and a small round hole in his forehead, 
such as my bullet would have made. The soldiers 
who preceded me had captured his horse and unsaddled 
it—laid the saddle with the other accoutrements to 
one side, as if they had intended them for the man 
who had fired the first shot. I took possession and 
rode the saddle for many a hundred miles afterwards. 
It caused a peculiar sensation to come over me for 
when the boys came back they told me that it was a 
fact that my shot had killed the man. I tried to put 
the thought away from me, because many other shots 
were fired following mine, but I suffered still the hor¬ 
rors of one who knows that his act had sent a fellow 
man into the other world. Among our prisoners was 
a first lieutenant in the regiment, a portion of which 
we had captured, which was either the First Ohio or 
the First West Virginia, I can not remember which. 
I thought that it was the First Ohio. As we were 
far away from any prison headquarters we paroled 
the prisoners we had captured and started on our 
way to the valley of Virginia. Some of the prisoners 
went along with us, and among them was the lieu¬ 
tenant referred to. He became very friendly with me, 
walking by the side of my horse, and I told him how 
I felt about what had occurred on the day before. 
He replied: “Why, you needn’t feel any trouble from 
that source. I was present in the attacking party. The 
man who was killed had just come over from Hesse 
Cassel in Germany. He couldn’t speak a word of 
English. He had gotten our thousand dollar bounty 
in New York and was assigned to our command and 
had only reached us a week or so before. He was 
practically worthless, and you need have no feeling 
such as you have referred to.” I had told him that 
I felt like some poor mother might be weeping for her 
boy on account of my shot that day. 


78 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


The kind words of the lieutenant caused the feel¬ 
ing of remorse to die away and I ceased to think of the 
transaction further. 

In this battle I saw something that I had never wit¬ 
nessed before. All our cavalry fought dismounted 
and one of our commands, on the left of the pike, met 
a flanking party that had gone out on the right of the 
enemy opposite to that occupied by the 16th. The 
enemy saw the detachment from our troops approach¬ 
ing and took position behind a solid stone fence that 
stretched for several hundred yards across an open 
field. As I stood with the General looking through 
glasses I saw our troops charge the stone wall that 
was blazing with smoke and fire. No braver act was 
ever witnessed by me in all the war. Not a man hesi¬ 
tated, but these brave Virginia boys dashed straight 
up against the stone wall and, leaping across it, used 
their pistols and unloaded guns to testify of their 
presence and irresistible power. Many of the enemy 
fell fighting in the face of the boys who had crossed 
over the sheltering stone wall. I thought as I watch¬ 
ed, that this spirit in Southern soldiers surely could 
never be conquered. But our trouble was, there were 
not enough of our boys to be found in the borders of 
the Confederate States to keep it up. 

INCIDENTS ON THE MARCH 

When Gen. Hunter made his raid on Lynchburg, 
my command brought up the rear of our troops and 
was continually engaged with the advance guard of 
the enemy. This was especially so after the battle 
of Piedmont. After this battle, our troops fell back, 
marching up the valley and coming on across by 
Buchanan and Lexington to Lynchburg. The enemy’s 
cavalry, that rode in the front, charged down on 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


79 


our rear guard at every possible opportunity. There 
was fighting through the day and skirmishing through 
the night. One man usually led the enemy’s troops. He 
rode a white horse and was especially conspicuous for 
gallantry and daring. He would charge into our ranks 
at every opportunity—stopping for nothing and only 
holding up when our men retired with accelerated ve¬ 
locity. Our command had some splendid marksmen in 
it, gathered from the Kenawha and the other regions 
adjacent, and our commander detailed several of these 
to act as sharp-shooters to pick off the officers who led 
the attacks on our rear. So the word soon went out “to 
shoot at the man on the white horse’’—and this was 
done. He would come down on us, with long hair 
standing out behind, and with a peculiar, shrill voice, 
shouting out something everytime as he charged. In 
vain our best marksmen pointed their guns and fired 
at him as he came. He seemed to bear a charmed life 
and our boys named him “Death on the Pale Horse,” 
and the sound came continually, “Shoot at the man on 
the white horse — shoot at the man on the white 
horse!” But he was never touched. His appearance, 
after awhile, became so frightful to our boys that they 
got under cover as soon as possible when he appeared. 
I never knew exactly who it was, but the word went 
out through the line that it must be Custer. We had 
felt his strength many a day in our struggles through 
the Valley. 

When we reached Lexington, it will be remembered 
that the enemy burned the Virginia Military Institute 
and also plundered what was afterwards the Wash¬ 
ington & Lee University. Gen. Stonewall Jackson was 
buried in the cemetery at Lexington and the Confed¬ 
erate flag was standing over his grave. While the In¬ 
stitute was burning the enemy shelled the grave of 


80 


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Jackson, doubtless attracted by the flag that floated 
over it. I was standing near the grave when the shells 
began to fall upon it, and I remember saying to some 
of the soldiers that were with me, “The enemy are 
afraid of Gen. Jackson in his grave, or they certainly 
wouldn’t shoot at it. I wish they could wake him.” 

Lieut.-Col. Graham was in command of the 16th on 
this march. One day he became separated from the 
command and as a detachment from the 17th Vir¬ 
ginia came up we asked the men where they last saw 
Col. Graham. The officer in command replied: “We 
saw him just over the hill standing in a fence corner 
with a horse pistol in his hand, holding the whole Yan¬ 
kee Army in check.” He was as brave a man as ever 
sent his eyes along a pistol’s barrel. 

When we reached Lynchburg we met Gen. Early’s 
army and Gen. Hunter’s command was turned back, 
after three or four hours’ fighting, with considerable 
loss. That night our brigade was ordered to march 
to the rear so as to cut off the retreat of Hunter’s 
army after the repulse by General Early. 

FIGHT AT HANGING ROCK 

After the repulse of General Hunter at Lynchburg 
the division of cavalry to which I was attached, under 
Ransom, was ordered to head off his retreat, and if 
possible destroy his army. We rode all through that 
June night, crossing the mountains north of the Peaks 
of Otter, and then sweeping southwest struck the great 
pike road on the far side of the ridge along which 
Hunter’s whole army would be compelled to march. 

We found ourselves at length, at early dawn, in the 
very front of the retreating army. Dismounting from 
our horses we took position in a depression out of sight 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


81 


of the pike, but very near thereto, where we waited 
the approach of the enemy. 

It was not an inviting situation. We were worn 
out with the hard day and night’s ride, to say noth¬ 
ing of the fighting and the long marches over the hills 
and valleys that preceded our present undertaking. 
Coming directly toward us, we could hear the tread 
of a hostile army, more than six times our number, 
with infantry and artillery in abundance—enough of 
either in fact, to destroy our small force in half an 
hour. 

Nearer and nearer the sounds approached, the roll 
of the great artillery wheels on the rock strewn pike 
sounding like distant thunder. As we waited expect¬ 
ant, impatient, hoping and yet dreading the coming 
struggle, I chanced to look at the Adjutant of the 
Sixteenth Virginia. He was a boy about two years 
older, I suppose, than I was. 

We had slept together many times in the headquar¬ 
ters tent, and I had often noticed him sharpening his 
sword on a whetstone or grindstone or even on his 
boot leather, until he boasted that he could shave with 
it. 

I saw that his cheeks were pale and his face was 
haggard, and then as I looked down at his feet I no¬ 
ticed that his pants legs were shaking like a leaf in a 
summer breeze—just like the legs of a boy about to 
make his first speech at a school exhibition. 

My teeth were chattering—I could not keep them 
still to save my life, any more than if a Georgia chill 
had hold of me, and I said to myself, “Well, I know 
I am scared, and I think you are too, Mr. Adjutant, 
so I intend to watch you today and see how a scared 
bov can behave when the time for action comes.” 

It was not long before the flank of a great battalion 


82 


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of artillery and infantry was exposed to us, then the 
order came to charge. Those impatient Southern sol¬ 
diers leaped out from their covert in an instant and 
rushed up the hill with trailed arms, straight as an 
arrow toward the foe. But that foe was not to be 
taken unawares nor easily overcome. Quick as light¬ 
ning the great guns were unlimb-ered, and double- 
shotted with grape and canister, they opened upon us. 
The first discharge cut the saplings over our heads— 
and then I saw a sight that I shall never forget in all 
my life. 

Far in front of our charging line was that boy ad¬ 
jutant with his naked sword in his hand, leading the 
column by twenty or thirty yards, sounding the rebel 
veil in our ears, as he called back to us: “Come on, 
boys, come on, follow me.” 

But the gun just in front of us is loaded again; 
it is thrown to the front, and we can look down its 
black, iron throat as we run; it will not be fired above 
our heads again, and now the gunner steps back to pull 
the lanyard, his hand is raised—when like a panther 
from his lair there leaped toward him that impetuous 
Virginia boy, and quick as a lightning’s flash, his keen 
sword descended upon the head of the unfortunate 
soldier, splitting it to the very shoulders and letting 
his life out in an instant; then as the stiffening fingers 
dropped the lanyard, the gun was wheeled about, an¬ 
other hand seized the cord, and the great double charge 
of grape and canister mowed down the ranks of the 
advancing foe. 

Nor yet was the day’s work done. The brave little 
adjutant dashed to one of the caissons near by, and 
with the same sword by which he had slain the ar¬ 
tilleryman, cut a horse loose from the traces, mounted 
him bare-backed, and himself bare-headed, seized the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


83 


regiment’s colors, dashing down into the enemy’s ranks, 
leading the van, as his followers rushed after him, with 
an enthusiasm that could not be curbed and a strength 
that could not be resisted. 

Nine pieces of artillery and 250 prisoners were the 
captured fruits of that unexampled charge. And the 
boy was not touched, though the flag that he carried 
was shot full of holes that day. 

Talk about bravery! Why Richard Coeur de Lion 
never fronted a Moslem host with a braver heart than 
beat beneath that gray uniform, though the boy’s legs 
did shake and his face grow pale as he waited for the 
charge on that fateful morning at Hanging Rock! 

THE BATTLE AT NEWMARKET 

While my regiment was moving down the Valley, 
after the fight at Wytheville, we came to Newmarket 
where a force under General John C. Breckenridge 
was preparing to attack the army under General 
Seigel. 

In this battle the Cadets of the Virginia Military 
Institute were allowed to participate. They were all 
boys under sixteen years of age, many of them small 
for their age, but all well drilled and as the event 
showed, full of enthusiasm and martial spirit. By 
some fortune I happened to be close to General Breck- 
enrido-e when the Cadets marched by on their way to 
the attack. The General was sitting on his horse within 
twenty steps of where I was placed, giving directions 
to the rest of his command and preparing for the 
battle which ensued. I remember as the boys moved 
forward I had the feeling that the result was des¬ 
tined to be “the slaughter of the innocents,” and I 
spoke of it as such. One of the boys broke out of 
ran' as the command passed me and catching hold of 


84 


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my stirrup leather gave it a shake and said to me: 
“We want to do just like you old soldiers would do.” 
I looked down at his fair smooth face and thought he 
was not much younger than I was, but he was exceed- 
ingly young to expose his life under such circumstances. 
It was not long until these boys were in the fight. I 
heard the keen, shrill yell that they gave as they 
charged. It was a boyish yell, but it had in it all the 
energy and all the fierce enthusiasm of a legion of 
boys whose feelings were keyed up to the last point. 
I could see they kept on charging. When the enemy 
opened fire many of them fell, but this only aroused 
the fierce anger of the others, and they kept rushing 
forward. They had never been taught to stop when 
they began to charge, and it wasn’t long before they 
had captured the guns in front of them and sent up 
their enthusiastic shouts of triumph. Many of them 
were killed or wounded, but it made no difference in 
the enthusiasm of those who survived. I have heard 
of only one parallel to the charge of these boys. In 
the great World War many of our troops were young 
and inexperienced. Many had never fired a gun sixty 
or ninety days before, and yet when those boys went 
into battle in front of the trained veterans of Ger¬ 
many, they never knew when to stop. They kept on 
going until they died or conquered. One German said, 
“In the name of God, what kind of people are these 
that you are sending against us? The more we kill of 
them the more come against us.” 

The Newmarket Battle showed the same spirit— 
the spirit that characterized the American soldier 
wherever he met the enemy in our recent wars. This 
spirit was incarnated in the young generations, North 
and South, that followed our great Civil War. I 
think our American troops succeeded because such 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


85 


things as these were spoken of in the homes of the 
people, at the dinner tables and in the home circles for 
long years after the war had ceased. Mr. Roosevelt 
once said, with rare patriotism and appropriateness, 
“The bravery of the soldiery on both sides of the 
struggle is the heritage of the whole American people.” 

My oldest son heard me describe these scenes often¬ 
times in the home and around the table. He seemed 
to absorb the old spirit, and at an- early date showed 
a military turn. He became a Captain in the Spanish 
War and a General in the World War. 

So our words often prove the inspiration to others 
when the days of peril come. 

BRIGADE ORGANIZATION 

When the regiment was called to active service in 
the Valley, it was put under command of General John 
McCausland. The brigade consisted of the 8th, 16th, 
17th, 21 st Virginia and 37th battalion. I am not cer¬ 
tain, but I think the 8th Virginia was detached at a 
very early date in the service and sent to another com¬ 
mand, though of this I am not sure. 

I am not trying to write a history of the 16th Vir¬ 
ginia ; I am only attempting to give some of the ad¬ 
ventures in which I took part. 

In the Gettysburg campaign, the regiment was com¬ 
manded by General Jenkins. In the West Virginia 
and Tennessee service it was under General Jones. 
It finished the war with General McCausland. While 
under his command it was in all the battles immedi¬ 
ately preceding the last Valley campaign; fought at 
Winchester; at Fishers Hill and Cedar Creek; shared 
in the Waynesboro repulse, and then crossed the moun¬ 
tains to join the main army in the last, long struggle 
that ended at Appomattox. 


86 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


ADVANCE ON WASHINGTON 

When Early made his advance on Washington in 
July, the 16th Virginia led the front and reached the 
fortifications around the city in good time to have as¬ 
saulted and taken them, if our officers had known that 
only clerks and volunteers from the departments man¬ 
ned these works. 

On this advance into Maryland, the most severe 
struggle that the regiment took part in occurred at 
Monocacy on the 9th. At this place, the regiment 
stood up against several infantry charges made by 
portions of the 6th Corps under General Wallace. 
For two hours and more the brigade, including the 
16th, met and resisted the continual charges of the 
enemy. It was said that every field officer of the 
brigade was killed or wounded in this fight. Our line 
occupied the top of an eminence and was commanded 
to lie down between the charges of the enemy. As 
each charge was made and the enemy approached, the 
16th rose and fired into the faces of those making the 
assault. The result was that there was a falling back 
of the enemy after every such fire. At one time it 
became important to know what the enemy were pre¬ 
paring to do, and as their line was under the brow 
of the hill they could not be seen from the position 
occupied by our troops. The Lieutenant-Colonel of 
the 17th Virginia, which regiment was next in position 
with the 16th, stood up and called for a volunteer to 
climb on his shoulders and from that elevation look 
down on the enemy’s line so as to find out what was 
going on, whether a new charge was being prepared 
or not. One of our Lieutenants promptly volunteered 
to climb up on the Colonel’s body and stand erect so 
as to make the observation. The Colonel bent down 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


87 


and the Lieutenant climbed on his shoulders, and then 
the Colonel slowly rose. He had scarcely straightened 
himself out, and the officer above him had likewise 
risen up, when there came a sharp sound from the di¬ 
rection of the enemy, and a volley was poured into the 
bodies of the two officers. They fell to the ground 
and instantly expired, making no report. 

The two brigades that relieved us were commanded 
by General John B. Gordon, who led his command 
over the elevation, charging straight into the enemy’s 
ranks. The result was a severe repulse of the troops 
under General Wallace; the capture of many prisoners, 
and above all, the clearing of the way to Washington 
City for our troops. 

As our shattered brigade, after being relieved, made 
its way to the rear it was met by General Early. I 
remember we leaned up against the fence as the Gen¬ 
eral rode up to speak to the troops. He told them 
that he was proud of their achievement—that he had 
never seen trained infantry fight any better than our 
brigade had done that day, and he congratulated us 
on the success we had achieved and the honor we had 
gained by our gallant work. 

I slept on the battle field the night following the 
battle close to the wounded soldiers of the enemy, 
who had not been gathered up. There was a small 
ravine near the center of the hardest fighting and down 
this ravine a stream was running. A number of the 
enemy’s wounded had rolled down the banks into the 
stream. I could hear them turning in the mud and 
water, like hogs in a wallow, all through the night. 
Very few of them seemed to be groaning, which ap¬ 
peared exceedingly remarkable to me. Whether this 
was from extraordinary fortitude or because they had 
reached a point where sound was impossible. I never 
knew. 


88 


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A ludicrous incident occurred as we approached 
Washington. At one of the villages through which we 
passed a crowd had gathered along the main street 
to watch our march. In the midst of this crowd a 
woman had perched herself upon some elevation, pos¬ 
sibly the steps of a platform on the side of the street, 
and taking off her sun-bonnet she threw it up and down 
as if in an agony of distress crying out, “Oh, gentle¬ 
men, don’t burn our beautiful capitol.” As she would 
cry these words out her bonnet was being lifted up 
and down; her hair was disheveled, and the tears were 
rolling down her cheeks. I tried to speak to her as 
we passed and did fling these words at her: “Madam, 
don’t be disturbed. We will not burn the capitol. We 
will only change the ownership.” But she kept scream¬ 
ing, and the last thing I heard from her as we passed 
her in the distance was the same strain: “Oh, gentle¬ 
men, don’t burn our beautiful capitol.” 

When we reached a point, I suppose about four 
or five miles from the city, my detachment occupied 
the Blair premises. The fortifications were on the 
next small rise and we could see the movements of 
the men as they handled their guns and got ready for 
us. 

At this point we waited until the infantry arrived 
on the ground but our General concluded not to at¬ 
tack, so we didn’t “burn the beautiful capitol.” 

SPEECH AT BARNESVILLE DESCRIBING 
GORDON AND EVANS AT MONOCACY 

In 1894 I was a candidate for the Georgia Senate 
to represent the Macon District. A fierce political 
contest had gone on in the state. Gen. Clement A. 
Evans was a candidate for Governor and was opposed 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


89 


by Wm. Y. Atkinson. It proved to be a revolt of the 
young men against the old General who had command¬ 
ed a Georgia brigade in the worst of the campaigns 
in Virginia, and Mr. Atkinson was elected in the pri¬ 
mary. It was thought for awhile that the party would 
not stand by the nominee and some effort was required 
especially to bring the old soldiers into line. A great 
barbecue was staged for Barnesville in Pike County, 
and to this barbecue both Gen. Gordon and Gen. Evans 
were invited as speakers. The barbecue was given in 
a grove near to the town, but after the feasting had 
gone on for some time a heavy rain storm came up 
and caused the assemblage to adjourn to a large hall 
on the grounds of the Barnesville Seminary nearby. 
Here some twelve hundred old soldiers gathered to 
hear their old Generals speak. After Gen. Gordon and 
Gen. Evans had both been heard, earnestly cautioning 
their former soldiers to stand by the nominee and vote 
for Mr. Atkinson, some of the audience recognized 
my presence on the stage and began to call for me. 
This was done because I was a candidate for the State 
Senate, and Pike was included in the District. I came 
forward while the audience was half standing, prepar¬ 
ing to leave, and after a few words of greeting begged 
to relate an incident which occurred in one of the bat¬ 
tles of Virginia. It was at Monocacy while Early’s 
army was on the road to Washington. 

I spoke about as follows: 

“The engagement Began with a cavalry battle. The 
brigade to which I belonged was drawn up on top of 
an elevation in a corn field and extended into a wheat 
field nearby. The enemy were on the other side of 
the elevation. 

“We had been fighting for nearly two hours, occu¬ 
pying the crest of the hill, rising to fire as each charge 


90 


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was made on us. After awhile we looked down to¬ 
wards the river that stretched nearby and saw two 
brigades of infantry from our army rapidly approach¬ 
ing to relieve us. They waded the river and came up 
almost at double-quick time towards our shaking line. 
Nearly every field officer in the brigade had been 
wounded or killed, and many of our boys had fallen 
to the ground never to rise again. It was a happy sight 
to us to see a body of that ragged infantry command 
approaching us. In advance of both brigades was an 
officer carrying a flag in his hand who turned around 
now and then to encourage his troops to quicker action. 
Behind him, at the very head of the front brigade, was 
another officer who repeated to his troops the com¬ 
mands of the one who led the advance. When they 
reached within a very short distance of our line the 
General, who was leading, took off his hat and said: 
‘Come on, Georgians, follow me—we will show these 
cavalrymen how to fight. These are only hundred- 
days men and they can’t stand up against our troops.’ 
As he spoke our withered lines divided, and leading 
his troops, he plunged toward the enemy. Then there 
came the sharp crack of the muskets answered by the 
wild yells of the Southern boys as they dashed upon 
the foe. The General, who was leading the brigade 
with intrepid daring, was shot down just a few paces 
beyond where he had penetrated our broken lines and 
fell to the ground. The other General bore a charmed 
life and led his intrepid boys to .victory. They were 
not hundred-days men, as he realized pretty soon, for 
as he turned down the elevation he found his men in 
the front of their old enemies; regulars from the army 
of the Potomac and his boys struck hands with their 
ancient foes before whom they had stood up at Chan- 
cellorsville, at Fredericksburg, and the other famous 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


91 


fields of Virginia, for they were a portion of the 6th 
Army Corps trained by fighting Joe Hooker. Fellow 
citizens, I followed these Generals then and I will fol¬ 
low them now. They led us to victory there and they 
will lead us to victory now. Those two leaders that 
stood on that bloody battle plain have spoken to you 
today, one was the matchless Gen. John B. Gordon, 
and the other that rugged, steady fighter, Clement A. 
Evans.” 

When I finished my appeal the audience was shout¬ 
ing in the wildest confusion. They called again for 
Gen. Evans and Gen. Gordon. Gen. Gordon came to 
me and put his arms around my neck, drew me out to 
the front and said to the assembled soldiers, “Com¬ 
rades, I would rather be the object of such love as 
you show me today than to wear the costliest crown 
of the greatest ruler in the world.” 

On the way to the train that afternoon Generals 
Gordon, Evans and I rode together in a carriage. 
Gen. Gordon turned to Gen. Evans and said: “Gem 
eral, they defeated you this time but here is one who, 
when he runs for Governor, they will not defeat,” 
pointing to me. 

I have thought of these words often. They con¬ 
stituted a true prophecy in the first instance, but in the 
second were not applicable. 

HORSES AND FORAGING IN MARYLAND 
AND PENNSYLVANIA 

On our raids into Maryland and Pennsylvania we 
subsisted almost entirely on provisions gathered 
from the enemy. In most cases these were paid for 
in Confederate money. But the people who contrib¬ 
uted felt that they had gotten very little in return 
for what we took from them. 


92 


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I learned to know the pangs of hunger on these 
raids. I could not eat the baker’s bread and apple 
butter that constituted the larger portion of our ration 
and I have gone as long as four days without any food 
crossing my lips. Every family in Southern Pennsyl¬ 
vania seemed to own a bakery and likewise kept a sup¬ 
ply of apple butter on hand. 

We slept along the fence corners or in the open fields 
or under the trees in the forests, if we got any sleep 
at all. There was a ceaseless call on all the energies 
of every soldier in our ranks. When our horses would 
give way on the forced marches we would swap them 
for horses belonging to the citizens, very rarely pay¬ 
ing any difference; sometimes only leaving a few dol¬ 
lars in Confederate money, so that the transaction 
might not be classed with the usual foraging business. 
I remember on one of these raids when we came back 
to our base of operations we brought back about thir¬ 
teen hundred broken-down horses suffering with va¬ 
rious troubles, the principal one being known as the 
“foot evil,” caused, undoubtedly by our long marches 
on the rough pikes. It was no small task to provide 
for these horses in addition to those in the regular 
line. 

In Pensylvania the horses that we found were gen¬ 
erally of large bodies and exceedingly large feet. They 
were undoubtedly draft horses of the Percheron-Nor- 
man breed. We swapped a great many of our Virginia 
horses for these large animals, but soon found put that 
they were almost worthless for cavalry purposes. They 
could not stand the exposure, and the marches on the 
pikes, especially in the winter time, soon put them out 
of the running. As they broke down the men had to 
secure other mounts in some way and the disabled 
horses fell into my possession to be sold or swapped 
as soon as practicable. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


93 


Among the principal raids that we made into Penn¬ 
sylvania was the one to 

CHAMBERSBURG 

After the disastrous march of Gen. Hunter in the 
summer of 1864, in which occurred the burning of the 
Virginia Military Institute and the almost total de¬ 
molition of the town of Buchanan, my brigade, in 
company with the Maryland brigade under Gen. Brad¬ 
ley Johnson, was sent across the Potomac to levy re¬ 
prisals on the enemy’s territory. My General had been 
a professor at the Virginia Military Institute and 
greatly resented the destruction of the building in 
which he had spent part of his life. A great many acts 
of a similar nature had attended Gen. Hunter’s march, 
all of which served to exasperate our leaders. 

Our raid into the enemy’s country extended as far 
as Chambersburg. Several severe skirmishes marked 
our advance and our General had levied contributions 
two or three times upon the city governments of the 
cities through which we passed. When we reached 
Chambersburg the General called for the city council 
and demanded a certain sum of money to be raised by 
the city government as an immunity contribution, stat¬ 
ing that unless this was raised he would burn the pub¬ 
lic buildings of the town. I was sitting on my horse 
near the General when a member of the city council 
approached him and said: “General, we have tried 
to get the council together and find that this is not 
possible. There is no way of raising the money and 
we doubt whether it could be done even if a meeting 
of the council were possible.” Without another word 
the General turned to Col. Peters of the 21st Virginia 
and said: “Colonel, take your regiment and burn this 
damned town. I will show these people that I mean 


94 


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what I say.” Colonel Peters, who sat on his horse a 
few feet away from the General, replied: “Sir, I have 
not joined the Confederate Army to burn houses over 
the heads of helpless women and children.” The Gen¬ 
eral flushed and said to the Adjutant General, “Take 
Colonel Peters’ sword—Colonel Peters, consider your¬ 
self in arrest. I will let a court martial pass on your 
disobedience of orders as soon as it can be organized.” 
Then turning to Col. Dunn, of the 37th Virginia bat¬ 
talion, he said: “Col. Dunn, take your battalion and 
blow up the Court House and set fire to the adjacent 
buildings.” Colonel Dunn saluted and it did not seem 
to me more than five minutes afterwards when I heard 
a terrible detonation and looking up in the direction 
of the court house saw its walls crumbling. From 
that time on the town began to burn. It was a fear¬ 
ful sight. Armed men marched through the streets 
breaking into the houses; going into the cellars, cap¬ 
turing old wines and liquors of many years ripening, 
drinking heavily and leaving a line of fire behind. I 
saw people carrying out their sick from the homes. I 
saw little children rushing through the streets without 
attendance, and above all I saw the flames and heard 
the roar of the awful conflagration as it followed the 
shouting and frenzied troops through the city. As I 
climbed the adjacent hills, looking back on the burning 
horror, while the vast volumes of flame and smoke 
rose up towards the heavens, I remember saying to my¬ 
self, “If there is a God who rules the destinies of the 
world, this act cannot go without punishment here.” 

MOREFIELD 

We crossed the mountains, rode all night and all 
next day until we reached the North Fork of the Po¬ 
tomac and forded the river near a place called More- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


95 


field, in Virginia. Our horses were jaded and almost 
exhausted by the long march through Maryland and 
Pennsylvania. They delayed our return but we went 
into camp at last near the river, turning our horses 
out to graze in a vast bluegrass field on both sides of 
the road. The fields were so large that the three thou¬ 
sand horses were almost lost in the wide stretches of 
pasture land. Videttes were set out on the other side 
of the river and pickets along the line and we lay down 
to sleep in bivouac under the open sky. Here some¬ 
thing occurred to me that I have never been able to 
account for except upon the doctrine of special Provi¬ 
dence. I had slept till about three o’clock in the morn¬ 
ing when I suddenly woke up. My horse had been 
turned out with the rest in the vast fields for pasture. 
When I awoke, a peculiar sensation came over me. I 
have called it a “hunch”—a “suggestion,” and given 
it various other names. I felt that I must get up and 
find my horse. I couldn’t resist the impression, and 
finally went out into the vast pasture fields to look 
for her at three o’clock at night. The moon came 
from behind clouds shining in a fitful way and this 
was all the light I had for the search. I thought the 
task was almost hopeless but determined to continue 
the effort. After I had traversed a long stretch of the 
pasture lands and nearly abandoned hope I came upon 
my horse peacefully grazing on the side of a little 
hill. It was not long before I had bridled and led 
her to where I was sleeping under an apple tree near 
the river bank. I tied her to the swinging limb of the 
tree, and adjusting my saddle against the roots of the 
tree spread a blanket over me and was soon sleeping 
again. I was waked just after dawn by the rattle of 
carbines and the whistle of bullets about my head. 
Looking over into the river I saw a long line of mount- 


96 


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ed men fording the stream and coming on with great 
rapidity—their horses dashing the water right and left 
in white foam as they moved. They appeared to be 
firing at every step of their horses. I arose as quick 
as possible, but saw in an instant that I could not 
get away or avoid capture unless something was speed¬ 
ily done to stop the advance. While I was deliberat¬ 
ing whether to take to the bushes on either side or try 
to saddle my horse I saw one of the captains of the 
16th Virginia rush out and call to his men, directing 
them to form a line betwen where I stood and the river 
and to fire into the advancing column. His command 
was scarcely given before the members of his company 
had rushed to the front and leveled their pieces. They 
fired point blank into the faces of the men in the river. 
Several saddles were emptied, and the riders pitched 
forward into the river while the whole line halted, 
then the captain shouted out to me to saddle my horse 
•and get away, stating that he would protect his men 
by taking to the woods. I did this and without more 
ado turned down the pike. I was the only horseman 
on the pike, as the other members of the command 
had probably received no “hunch” and left their ani¬ 
mals in the pasture. Of course the attacking party 
made a very short stop in the river, and on reaching 
land started out in a gallop down the pike in my rear. 
They fired at me as they came. I could look back and 
see that they fired mostly as their horses rose instead 
of waiting until the horses’ feet came down so that the 
bullets went over my head. I heard some one in the 
foremost rank shout out “Fourteenth Pennsylvania, 
remember Chambersburg. No quarter.” This gave 
me something of a scare, as can be well understood. 
I had in my pocket a small diary in which I had re¬ 
corded all my adventures from the time I entered the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


97 


army until that date. In this diary was a complete 
Statement concerning my presence at Chamhersburg 
and also my thoughts as I rode slowly up the mountain 
and looked back on the burning city. I had written 
these down in the diary with a prophecy of coming evil. 
I took the diary from my pocket and in order to avoid 
the complication that might have resulted, I threw it, 
as I galloped down the pike, far over into a briar 
patch which I passed. I would pay anything almost 
for the recovery of this diary today. 

It was not long until I overtook, on the outskirts 
of the town, several of the command who had lodged 
in the town ‘during the night. The General was among 
these and halting them he ordered a temporary forti¬ 
fication to be built across the road and kept crying out 
to the fugitives as fast as they came up, most of them 
on foot, of course, to throw themselves behind the 
works and stop the enemy from further advance. This 
was done and the pursuit ended. 

That night we slept on the side of the mountain. I 
was in better shape than the General, as I had all my 
army blankets and he had none. I did not offer to 
share them with him, as I was not feeling kindly to¬ 
ward him on account of the awful overthrow we had 
just suffered. 

Next day the command had rallied and we were in 
shape to hold back the invasion which got no farther. 
We lost our horses but we kept our nerve. 

The command went across into the Valley soon after- 
this and joined with the other cavalry that belonged 
to Early’s Army. 

I have had an impression all through my life since 
the Morefield affair that the demoralization which 
grew out of our defeat at that place was never com¬ 
pletely banished from the brigade. The morale of the 


98 


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troops was never the same while I was with them, and 
it appeared to me at times that the results extended 
themselves to other branches of the service. We were 
never able after that fight to stand up in front of the 
Federal cavalry with the same power of resistance 
as in former days. The truth about it is the cavalry 
on the side of the enemy grew so formidable; became 
so powerful; so experienced; so fearless, that it did 
not hesitate to attack infantry at any time—dash into 
the very heart of an infantry command, and of course 
by sheer weight and numbers would drive our cavalry 
back at any point where the contact was made. At 
Winchester the charge of the Union Cavalry in the 
rear of the infantry driving before them our own cav¬ 
alry, brought about the confusion which ended in re¬ 
treat from that place. I have heard it said that the 
cavalry rushing up against the infantry in that rear 
charge would cry out to the Confederate soldiers: 
“Men, for God’s sake surrender—don’t force us to 
cut you down and kill you.” Looking back through 
the sixty years I can see how the Union Cavalry, which 
learned its principal lessons in the Shenandoah Valley, 
contributed in a great measure to the final overthrow 
of that magnificent army that had achieved so many 
victories under its matchless commander, General Lee. 

At Chambersburg I took on myself to go inside of a 
book store that was already burning and rescue some 
books, the reading of which afforded me great pleas¬ 
ure in our subsequent campaigns. These books con¬ 
sisted of one copy of Milton; six or seven small vol¬ 
umes containing the dramas of Shakespeare, and a few 
volumes of The Rambler and Spectator. As these 
books were already on fire when I got the volumes 
out, I have never tried to return them to the owners, 
but I have held them since that time as the property 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


99 


of a Northern book-seller to be surrendered when 
called for. The books’ covers were torn off, however, 
and they were not worth much. I am keeping them 
as souvenirs. 

I read these books afterwards aloud to the Colonel 
while riding at the head of the column over the pikes 
of Virginia and Maryland and Pennsylvania in our 
subsequent raids. Our surgeon had told me that my 
eyes would be ruined and I would go blind before 1 
was thirty years old because I persisted in reading 
these books aloud. The Colonel enjoyed them and so 
did I, and my eyes have only begun to fail me in my 
77th year. 

After we had fallen back from Fisher’s Hill my 
brigade stopped at Port Republic and here we stood all 
day in the trenches that General Jackson had used in 
his great campaigns. We held the enemy in check 
until he finally moved away. About this time I was 
given a furlough for some thirty days and consequently 
missed the battle of Cedar Creek by going home to 
East Tennessee. 

In the winter of 1864 our command was on de¬ 
tached service most of the time. 

We were moving about from place to place in order 
to secure forage for our horses while at the same time 
defending the country against the advance of the Union 
Cavalry. 

The camp of the regiment at times was left in my 
charge while the regiment was out skirmishing with 
the enemy or seeking to cut off his advance in some 
raid he was making. 

During a portion of this time I acted in the capacity 
of brigade quartermaster, looking after the business 
of the whole brigade, but generally my duties included 
only the affairs of the regiment. I paid off the men, 


100 


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issued clothing whenever we had it, distributed rations 
when we had any, through the commissary sergeant. 
The regiment had no commissioned commissary and 
all this business was in the Quartermaster’s charge. 

I desire to make this remark at this point: I never, 
within my knowledge, missed a single fight in which 
the regiment took part while I was with it. I made 
it my business to go into battle with the regiment, 
though I did not always remain through the entire 
conflict, as I was acting frequently in carrying or¬ 
ders and performing duty as a staff officer. Making 
a fair calculation, I can safely state that I took part 
in some thirteen engagements that might be called 
pitched battles and more than sixty-three skirmishes 
during my service. 

MY CONNECTION WITH THE 
SECOND CORPS 

After the death of General Jones my command be¬ 
came attached to the Second Corps, formerly com¬ 
manded by General Stonewall Jackson. The last two 
years of my service in the army, therefore, were spent 
with the men who composed this splendid unit of our 
army. 

While I came to the corps after* General Jackson 
was dead, yet I walked with it; rode with it; camped 
with it; fought with it through the two years that 
followed, until I felt that I had known every man 
in it from the beginning.' 

I was only a boy between 18 and 19 years of age, 
yet possessing abundant imagination. 

When the anniversary of the General’s death came 
around I was appointed to deliver the eulogy for our 
command as a part of the exercises. 

Many of the sentences that I used under the pines 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


101 


of Virginia come back to me now day by day in this 
winter of a long life. In common with his own boys 
who followed him I learned to reverence his mem¬ 
ory. In the camp and on the march as I talked with 
the men about their battles and the long journeys they 
made under Jackson I went through the same fear¬ 
ful struggles. I became, in thought at least, a part 
of their organization. The spirit of the dead leader 
never left the command, for the memory in their lives 
was so steady and so absorbing that as they spake of 
the past I saw it all rise up before me—I felt their 
sufferings just as they had done and I rejoiced to make 
their triumphs my own. So I think I may say that 
in my career for the last two terrible years of the 
war I became a member of the organization and felt 
the same pride and rejoiced at the story of the same 
struggles through which the Corps had passed under 
Jackson’s leadership. 

It came from a boy soldier’s attachment to the 
memory of a leader whose birthday in the year was 
the same as his own. 

SICKNESS IN THE VALLEY 

The doctor of the 16th Virginia was bitterly op¬ 
posed to calomel. The boys called him all sorts of 
names but he was a faithful officer, only standing by 
what he had learned in his school days. He was known 
as an “herb doctor,” as a matter of ridicule. He was 
from near Milledgeville, Ga. 

While we were camped in the Valley a good deal 
of bilious fever occurred and I became a victim to this 
disease. I was absolutely certain that a dose of calo¬ 
mel would save me, but the doctor sternly forbade the 


102 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


use of such a drug. Under the circumstances I asked 
the Colonel for leave of absence to go out to a private 
house where I could get the services of a country doc¬ 
tor and the old treatment to which I had been accus¬ 
tomed in the same sort of trouble. 

The leave was obtained and I went out to a beau¬ 
tiful private home situated at a point near where the 
Valley divides as one goes towards the Potomac. It 
was the home of a Mr. Kauffman. 

I remained with the family some two weeks or more 
and was waited on and looked after by a beautiful 
lady who was the wife of a captain of one of Mosby’s 
companies that were then operating in the Valley. I 
have never forgotten her kind ministrations and I wish 
I could print her name here so that it might b,e read 
by others that come after me, but I have forgotten 
it. 

There were three women who were especially kind 
to me at this time including the Captain’s wife, afore¬ 
said. One was a child of the household, Miss Betty 
Kauffman, about fifteen years of age—and a school 
teacher whose name I have now also forgotten. There 
grew up on my part a strong attachment for these 
ladies and some of the sweetest memories of the war 
linger about them. The school teacher softened the 
rigor of confinement and the fever of repining by tell¬ 
ing me a number of anecdotes with which her mind 
seemed to be stored. One of these I can yet recall, 
though somewhat dimly, I must confess. It is the 
story of the old preacher—one of the not very well 
educated portion — who coming along by a school 
house one day saw a number of boys playing marbles. 
As he came up to where they were at play he heard 
one of the scrawniest, thinnest and poorest in appear¬ 
ance cry out: “Damned if I ain’t fat.” 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


103 


The preacher said he knew that boy was lying, so 
he came up closer and said: “Boys, the Bible says 
‘Marvel not, verily I say unto you,’ now that means 
you ought to stop this playing.” *But the preacher that 
was telling the story said they paid no attention to 
him, but just went on with their play. A few minutes 
after one of the boys, somewhat in the rear of the 
rest, cried out: “I’ll be damned if I ain’t dead,”— 
“and now,” said the preacher, “I saw he wasn’t dead 
and I saw the thin boy wasn’t fat, so I concluded my 
speech by earnestly repeating again the words of Scrip¬ 
ture—‘Marvel not, marvel not, verily I say unto 
you!’ ” 

The Captain’s wife read aloud several books to me 
when I was convalescing. One of them was “Charles 
O’Malley, or the Irish Dragoon,” by Lever. 

I enjoyed this work more than any I had ever read 
or heard of in all my life before. It suited the South¬ 
ern boy who was soldiering far away from home. I 
laughed over its anecdotes; enjoyed its fine description 
of camp life, and the wit and humor of the Irish sol¬ 
dier so much that I told my kind entertainers that if 
I was ever permitted to have a home of my own and 
a library I would get this book in the finest binding 
that could be found and keep it on the center table or 
near to my hand where I could read it day by day. 

Long years afterwards I fulfilled the promise of 
this early day. The father of my first wife was a 
prominent book-seller and publisher and I gave him 
the order to purchase the work in England with the 
finest binding in red and gold that could be found, and 
the book has been near at hand or on the center table 
since 1875. 

It is the most beautifully bound volume in the li¬ 
brary, and when I look at it, I go back to the days 


104 


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in the Valley of Virginia when that exquisitely beauti¬ 
ful lady, wife of the great partisan’s captain, read it 
out to me, as I grew better and regained my health 
under the administration of the country doctor at¬ 
tending me. 

Miss Betty Kauffman gave me her picture, which I 
still keep in the album that I made up in my earlier 
days. 


TREPIDATION OF THE SOLDIER 

I was standing one day by the side of the Stonewall 
Brigade, when the enemy made a sudden and unex¬ 
pected attack upon our lines. The brigade hurriedly 
threw itself across the road and prepared to repel the 
advance. As the enemy approached, the front rank 
of the brigade knelt, while the rear rank prepared to 
shoot over their heads. 

My position was actually at the head of the line 
and the man next to me who knelt, preparing to fire, 
was one of the privates in the command. His face 
had been covered with sweat and in the march on the 
pike the dust had settled all over his cheeks and fore¬ 
head, giving him a dull, dead look. When he bent 
down and prepared to fire I saw a paleness gather on 
his face. I could see the pallor moving from his tem¬ 
ples all the way down over his cheeks. His face be¬ 
came deathly white, notwithstanding the heavy coating 
of dust. The enemy was soon repulsed and as the 
man arose from his kneeling posture I asked him why 
it was that his face had turned so white as he knelt 
to shoot. He replied: “I cannot tell you, sir. I al¬ 
ways feel a sinking of the heart when I first begin to 
fire,” and then, looking up into my face with a smile, 
he said, “you didn’t see it any more after the first shot, 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


105 


did you?” and I was obliged to tell him that I did not. 

I suppose no one ever went into battle who did not 
have a peculiar sensation accompanying the event. The 
officers as well as the men always felt a realization 
of the danger at the commencement, but this feeling 
passed away when the active work commenced. 

SOLDIERS THAT CAN’T STAND FIRE 

There were some men who had a perfect willing¬ 
ness to fight or go into battle, yet completely broke 
down, fell back and left the line when the firing com¬ 
menced. I have often seen the stragglers behind the 
battle line. Many of them were anxious to go back 
but afraid to do so; all of them having an impression 
that they are destined to be killed if they go into the 
fight. No man knows whether he can stand fire or 
not until he tries it. The sense of danger becomes so 
great at times that the man’s heart gives way and, 
though his spirit is willing, his flesh is too weak to 
stand it. I saw a notable instance in one of the com¬ 
panies belonging to our brigade. A man, who was 
orderly sergeant of the company and belonged to a 
splendid family, was afflicted in this way. He was an 
excellent non-commissioned officer, a good disciplin¬ 
arian, and a fine leader of his men, but the instant the 
firing opened he gave way and left the ranks in a par¬ 
oxysm of fear and trepidation. He had deserted sev¬ 
eral times from the firing line and finally was arrested; 
tried by court martial, and sentenced to be shot for 
cowardice. I met him when he was under sentence and 
he told me he was anxious to try it again, begging me 
to see the Colonel and allow him to go into the next 
fight and redeem himself. He said that he had an old 
mother, whose heart was bound up in him and she 


106 


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would never be able to stand the knowledge that he 
had been shot for cowardice. The Colonel rode up 
and I joined him in asking that he be allowed to try it 
again. His plea touched the Colonel and he ordered 
the guard to allow him to go out with the boys in the 
next battle. He did so. He went out and stood up 
with the line. A shot struck him in the breast and he 
poured out his life’s blood on Virginia soil. The pre¬ 
sentiment, which he always had, proved to be true, 
but he died at last like a soldier. A telegram was 
sent to his poor old mother stating to her that her boy 
was killed, doing his duty in the front of the line. He 
was a hero with a defect in his constitution. He had 
too keen a sense of danger to stand when the time 
came. He could not shut off the surroundings, as 
many men do, and rush on to death or triumph. 

CARRYING ORDERS UNDER DIFFICULTIES 

In one of our cavalry invasions in the Valley of 
Virginia the enemy attacked us with a very heavy force 
causing us to fall back toward Staunton. On the way 
we came to some trenches that had been dug by Stone¬ 
wall Jackson, during his struggles in the Valley with 
Banks and Shields. Here we made a stand occupying 
these trenches. For nearly a day we held the enemy 
in check but late in the afternoon the word came to 
us that he was beginning to flank us and was planting 
cannon to rake the trenches from end to end. 

During the day the firing was so steady that a cap 
placed on a ramrod and held above the fortification 
would be hit by a dozen bullets in so many seconds 
and whirled around with great rapidity. When it be¬ 
came known that the enemy had flanked our position 
so as to enfilade the trench, the Colonel instructed me 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


107 


to carry orders to the different companies, to retire 
from the trench by marching each company to the right 
flank, so as to leave the trenches at the nearest point 
on our march. 

I was riding a beautiful circus mare that presented 
a striking appearance when mounted, and having no 
time for thought or discussion I started down the line 
in full view of the enemy. As I came to the head of 
the first company I gave the Colonel’s order and this 
was repeated until I reached the last company in the 
line. The bullets were flying like hail, but none of 
them touched me. When I had reached the last com¬ 
pany and given the order I turned to ride back and 
then the full sense of danger came over me and I bent 
to my horse’s neck and put spurs to her flanks riding 
with incredible speed. I can remember the flight to 
this day. I had felt no sense of danger while engaged 
in giving the orders, but when the work was finished 
and I turned back towards the head of the command, 
the fearful exposure was appreciated and I put my 
horse to her greatest speed in order to reach a place 
of safety. I was not touched, nor was my horse, which 
has always been a puzzle to me as well as a matter 
for rejoicing. 

I mentioned the above to one of my comrades, Col. 
Isaac Hardeman, one of the purest, truest men I 
ever met, who had commanded a regiment in 
the army, and he explained the philosophy to me. He 
said my mind did not take in any sense of danger while 
I was engaged in the work of carrying the orders, but 
as soon as this was finished and I looked about me the 
danger became apparent and my legs broke loose in 
an effort to run, which was transferred to my horse. 
The regiment was safely extricated and very few cas¬ 
ualties resulted. 


108 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


DODGING THE BULLETS 

I have heard many stories about the tendency to 
dodge the enemy’s bullets, a tendency to be found in the 
bravest of our soldiery. Someone told me of a story 
concerning Gen. Jackson and Gen. Hill, who was his 
brother-in-law. As they stood taking an observation 
one day, a shell came over. Gen. Jackson did not 
move but Gen. Hill dodged with great celerity, where¬ 
upon Gen. Jackson turned around and exclaimed: “Why 
are you trying to dodge that shell, Gen. Hill? If it 
was intended to hit you it would have done so even if 
you had been sixteen feet under ground.” All the 
same the best of them would try to dodge the unseen 
bullet. 

I was standing one day on the northern bank of the 
Potomac, when a detachment of Federals opened fire 
on us from across the river. My general, who was as 
brave a man as ever gave an order, was standing with 
his glasses looking at the movements of the enemy 
when the firing began. As the bullets flew in every di¬ 
rection around about us, I saw the general dodging 
and even brushing his ear as the shots would whistle 
by. I don’t mind saying that while he dodged in that 
way I got behind a house that was close by, as I con¬ 
sidered this much safer than trying to dodge the 
missiles. 

A CANNON SHOT NEAR HANCOCK 
MARYLAND 

My command had been on a raid in Maryland, cap¬ 
turing many horses and taking many prisoners. On 
our return we came to a station on the B. & O. Road 
near the Potomac, where a strong force of the enemy 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


109 ' 


met us in an effort to cut off our retreat. I was stand¬ 
ing on an elevation about a mile away from the station, 
when I saw an iron-clad train run out on the main 
line, evidently heavily loaded with soldiers. The 
mouths of several guns protruded from the armored 
sides of the train and as I stood looking through 
glasses, with a number of soldiers around me, one of 
these guns opened fire on us. I saw the shell coming 
through the air and it seemed to me that it would cer¬ 
tainly strike about the center of my forehead. There 
was no way of escape and I faced the danger, but the 
shell exploded about one hundred yards in front of 
me, the fragments going on each side and tearing up 
the ground at my horse’s feet. I thought prudence 
was the better part of valor and rode back behind the 
turn of the hill. 

Just then our Maryland battery (I wish I could 
recall its name) taking position near the place where 
I had been standing, unlimbered and opened fire. The 
gun that was sighted first was loaded with a round 
shot and it struck the engine boiler of the iron-clad 
train almost exactly in the center, going entirely 
through it. As it struck I saw the Union soldiers leap 
out of the iron-clad train, reminding me of a picture 
I had seen of rats jumping out of a sinking ship. The 
train, of course, was disabled, and we soon captured 
it together with a large detachment of soldiers. After 
this we proceeded on our way in safety. 

FORAGING IN OLD VIRGINIA 

Small events sometimes decide a man’s destiny. I 
have often felt that I determined to study law because 
of an incident which occurred on the frontier of Vir¬ 
ginia, while our brigade was in camp guarding the 


110 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


front lines of the army. General Rosser’s command 
had preceded us. It was an old Virginia command. 
The soldiers of my brigade were largely made up of 
levies from Northwest Virginia along the borders of 
the Kanawha and in the Greenbrier Country, though 
rather rough, they were all Virginians, no less. 

When we took the place of Rosser’s brigade we 
found that the country had been almost denuded of 
provisions or forage. It was said, in fact, that the 
horses in Rosser’s command lived for sometime on noth¬ 
ing better than oak leaves. Col. Ferguson, of the 16th, 
determined to do better. Looking across a long stretch 
of level land he saw a number of hay stacks still stand¬ 
ing and he ordered me to take a detachment under com¬ 
mand of a lieutenant and go after these hay stacks 
and bring them into camp. 

When I reached the meadow-land where they stood, 
I found they belonged to an old country gentleman 
living in a house nearby. He had passed middle life 
and was residing with his wife and daughters all alone 
on this frontier. I called on him, met him at the door 
of his home and told him I had come to get the hay 
stacks for our hungry horses. 

He lost his temper at once and said I could not get 
them, that I must pass over his dead body before I 
could do so, and added that he had a son on General 
Lee’s staff and if I attempted to take them by force 
he would see that word went to the General and a 
court martial would be immediately ordered, with 
most direful results to me. 

I could understand then why Gen. Rosser had not 
taken the stacks of hay from him. The old man knew 
how to defend them. I started to argue with him and 
present our condition to him. I spoke of the blood in 
his veins, one of the first families of Virginia. I told 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


111 


him how we were starving on the border-land to de¬ 
fend him, that his hay would not remain in place twen¬ 
ty-four hours if our troops were withdrawn and the 
enemy approached. I told him how he was sleeping 
in the house in a warm bed, while we were lying on the 
ground in rain and cold with nothing over us but the 
sky. I told him if his boy was with Gen. Lee he would 
not approve of his father’s withholding the little sus¬ 
tenance that would keep our horses moving in his de¬ 
fense. I tried to show him his duty as a patriotic 
Virginian and used all the eloquence I could call to 
my help in pleading with him, to avoid the necessity 
of taking by force that which he ought to be glad for 
us to have. 

After awhile I saw the tears begin to steal down 
his furrowed cheeks; he shook his white locks and 
finally said: “My God! I have never been talked to 
this way before in my life. Take the hay stacks but 
come in and eat with me and bring in your lieutenant 
so I may see the kind of men you are.” 

We went in and took supper with him, while my men 
carried the hay to the camp and to the starving horses. 

One of his beautiful daughters waited on us; one 
of the brightest and sweetest girls I ever met, and we 
parted with expressions of good will after I had paid 
him in nothing but Confederate money for the forage 
he had finally consented to let us have. I believe my 
success in this respect made me think more about the 
legal profession and begot a desire to try a lawyer’s 
pleading before a jury for the life of his client. 

Many times since then I have felt as I stood in 
front of a jury, defending a man charged with mur¬ 
der that I alone was between him and death. I think 
I spoke all the more fervently and earnestly because 
I realized this fact. So I felt as I stood before this 


112 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


old Virginian on that dreary evening on the borders 
of the Potomac, that I was pleading for the lives of 
men and horses, in the Confederate army. 

HOW I WAS DISMOUNTED 

One of the horses which I rode in the regiment 
had been a show horse. It had several gaits, was a 
fast pacer, and altogether a beautiful looking animal. 
On one occasion the command was ordered to cross 
the mountains to the west of Staunton at the head of 
the Valley, on one of our usual raids. Before moving 
a fearfully cold spell came on us. The snow fell for 
awhile which melted and then froze on the pike, cov¬ 
ering it with a firm coat of ice, extending from the 
foot to the top of the mountain over which we must 
pass. The regiment dismounted as soon as the ice- 
covered road was reached; a blacksmith shop was set 
up and many of the horses shod with ice shoes. 

The calks of the ice shoes were pointed so that they 
stuck in the ice and prevented the horses from slip¬ 
ping. I believed my horse was so active that there was 
no need for these shoes in her case. I led her from the 
foot of the mountain without any trouble, until with¬ 
in about one hundred yards of the top, when she sud¬ 
denly fell and began to struggle with a great panic on 
her. I tried in vain to get her to her feet but she 
finally rolled over the side of the mountain, going 
down to its foot. I was sure she would be dead before 
I could reach her but I could see down in the Valley 
that she got up and moved about. 

I took the blacksmith with me and went down and 
had her shod with ice shoes and then led her over the 
mountain. I stopped at a little country house to stay 
all night, as I had gotten behind the command, and a 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


113 


short time after I put her in the stable I heard a com¬ 
motion, a sound of suffering that came from the stable 
—went out and found that she was dead. It was some 
time before I could get another horse as good as this 
one. 

HOW I LEFT THE BRIGADE 

In February, 1865, the brigade was on detached 
service, under command of General McCausland, and 
I was attending to the brigade quartermaster’s work. 

One day the General sent an order to me to make 
out a list of the officers of the brigade, especially not¬ 
ing those who were absent among these officers. As 
this was an unusual and extraordinary order I carried 
it to Colonel Ferguson and asked his advice about it. 
He told me the General was trying to get up with the 
movements of one of the captains of the command 
who was supposed to be absent in company with some 
women in the neighborhood and the General desired 
to get proof of this so that steps could be taken to 
bring the captain to a court martial. 

Colonel Ferguson immediately said to me: “I would 
not obey the order if I were in your place. General 
McCausland has no authority under the Rules and Ar¬ 
ticles of War to order you to make this investigation 
or present this list. You are not reporting to him, 
but reporting direct to Richmond.” 

Under the circumstances, and yielding to the sug¬ 
gestions of the Colonel, I did not comply with the 
order. A few days afterwards the General sent his 
adjutant to me directing me to report to his tent. I 
went down with the adjutant and presented myself to 
the General. He was lying down in his tent and a 
large log-heap fire was in front of the door of the 
tent and I stood with the fire between me and the 


114 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


tent. As soon as he saw me and I had saluted, he said: 
“Why did you not obey my order?” in a very curt 
way. Then I reminded him that this was out of my 
province and suggested that under the Rules and Ar¬ 
ticles of War he could not require such service of me. 

I know now that I was wrong in my position and the 
General was right. Inasmuch as we were on detached 
service he was fully authorized to require any sort of 
service of me that he thought was for the advantage 
of the brigade. When I quoted the Rules and Articles 
of War, however, he became greatly incensed, rising 
up and denouncing me in the fiercest, harshest terms he 
could employ, and wound up with the words, “ Go 
away from my tent. I hope I will never set eyes on 
you again.” 

I could not reply to him as he would have ordered 
me in arrest at once, and doubtless should have done 
so. I do not know what prevented him from doing so. 
I went back to the Colonel and told him the result and 
asked him to recommend my immediate release and 
transfer from the regiment, which he agreed to do, 
and of this the General was promptly notified. 

I put my affairs in good shape, gathered up all the 
papers and vouchers, covering, as I recall, something 
over six hundred thousand dollars expended in behalf 
of the regiment; collected up my belongings from the 
headquarters wagon that I had kept with me during 
our weary campaigns, and prepared to start back to 
Tennessee, reporting on my way. at Richmond. 

One incident transpired that served to smooth away 
the fierce depression that came over me from the cir¬ 
cumstances. The brigade was ordered to move before 
I was able to arrange my affairs and its journey was 
m the direction that I must take, so I stayed with it 
on the march. We came to a small river which the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


115 


troops crossed. The ford was a bad one, however, and 
the wagon train mired up in the water and mud and 
could not move out. After I had ridden alongside of 
the train and had come up on the bank of the river on 
the other side, I saw the General sitting on his horse 
looking over toward the stalled train in the river and 
I heard him say: 

“Where is that damned East Tennesseean? I wish 
he would come here.” 

I rode up to him immediately and saluted him and 
said: “General, here is the ‘damned East Tennes¬ 
seean,’ what can I do for you, Sir?” 

He turned and saluted me and in the kindest 
voice said to me: “I wish you would please go down 
and get this train out of the river for me.” I told him 
I would do so and rode back for that purpose. 

All the men knew me and I had no trouble in giving 
the directions that enabled them to extricate the mired 
wagons and the train moved on. 

I never saw the General again. Long, long after¬ 
wards, perhaps two years ago, I saw an account in 
the papers, of his home and surroundings on the 
Kanawha River in West Virginia, and I wrote him, 
telling him that I had been a member of his briagde 
and wanted to hear from him. He wrote me a very 
kind and courteous letter, giving me a good many facts 
about his people and the place in which he lived, and 
then asked me to try to find some kindred of his fam¬ 
ily he thought were living in Florida, near the place 
where I was staying at our winter home. 

I obtained the information for him and in the let¬ 
ter conveying this to him I related the circumstance 
about my disobeying his orders and apologized for the 
same, assuring him that I now recognized the fact that 
I had done wrong myself. He never answered the let- 


116 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


ter, and I suppose my apology gave as much offense 
as the original transaction, judging by his silence. 

He was a man of strong prejudices, with a genius 
for command that was second to very few with whom 
I came in contact during my service in the army. He 
was responsible for the brigade’s successes in a great 
many conflicts with the enemy. He gave the order for 
the charge at Hanging Rock, where we captured the 
nine pieces of artillery and the two hundred and fifty 
prisoners. All the glory of that contest belongs to 
him. There was no cowardice in his system and he 
seldom consulted anyone on questions of policy or on 
the propriety of attack. 

COMING HOME 

After the brigade went into camp I left it, going 
through Richmond, and by slow journeys reached East 
Tennessee. After remaining a few weeks with my 
mother, my father being absent, I started out in com¬ 
pany with a command known as Captain Deaderick’s 
Scouts, to rejoin the army of Northern Virginia. 

At Bristol or Abingdon we came up with a portion 
of a brigade of Kentuckians, known as the Orphan 
Brigade, and in company with this command proceed¬ 
ed towards Richmond. We reached Christiansburg 
one afternoon and here received the news that Gen¬ 
eral Lee had surrendered. When this news was shout¬ 
ed out to us by the officer who had received it, the en¬ 
tire command dismounted from their horses and 
threw themselves on the ground. Wails of sorrow and 
distress went out on the air and disclosed how the news 
had broken the heart of every man in the organization. 
I remember falling flat on the ground and with my 
hands digging a hole through the grass into the sand 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


117 


and allowing my tears to fall down into the hole, after¬ 
wards covering them up in the soil of old Virginia. 

There was moaning and groaning and tears all 
through the command, for the disappointment was 
greater than any of us could bear. We were homeless. 
The Kentuckians knew that the enemy occupied their 
country. The East Tennesseeans knew that there was 
no place for rest or home in their country’s bounds. 
We called a council of war and determined to go across 
to Johnson’s army, as the only thing that was left to us. 

THE MARCH TOWARDS JOHNSON’S ARMY 

We went across the mountains on a weary and end¬ 
less march. We had no means of getting sustenance 
except by begging or buying from the citizens. Our 
horses grew weary and tired and the awful horrors of 
the situation made every man of the company feel that 
life had left in it very little that was worth living for. 
I will never forget the miseries of that dreadful march. 

After passing out of Virginia into North Carolina, 
we struck the great line of railroad at Charlotte and 
camped a short distance from the city, sending in to 
the city to notify General Johnson, who was then at 
Greensboro, of our desire to join him. This, as I rec¬ 
ollect it, must have been about the 23rd of April. 

The officers that went in to make the inquiries and 
give the notice found out that President Davis and 
General Breckenridge were both in Charlotte. They 
came out to see us and made speeches to us. President 
Davis said to us that he was on his way to the Trans- 
Mississippi. He thought the fight could be kept up 
there for a time, and hoped that some European na¬ 
tion would intervene in our favor and that we would 
yet be successful. He stated that he would be glad 
to have us go with him, but cautioned us that he did 


118 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


not give us any orders or commands whatever about 
the matter. 

Then General Breckenridge spoke to us. General 
Breckenridge was the Secretary of War and of course 
we looked to him for positive instructions. He said: 

“Soldiers, I do not take the sanguine view enter¬ 
tained by the President. I tell you that the war is 
over and advise you to go on home and if you can 
make as good citizens as you have soldiers, your coun¬ 
try will be glad of your presence.” 

The Orphan Brigade, being from Kentucky I sup¬ 
pose, recognized that Breckenridge had the right to 
speak for them. We called a council and determined 
to take his advice, and disband accordingly—and all 
started home. 

Looking back on it I can now see that at the time 
these two great officials spoke to us at Charlotte, Gen¬ 
eral Johnson had already signed the cartel that surren¬ 
dered his army at Greensboro. This became known on 
the 26th of April, so that the war was really ended. 

I had gone only about two and one-half miles, per¬ 
haps, when my worn and exhausted horse fell flat in 
the road and threatened to leave me afoot. I took 
off from her all the baggage, the little army saddle¬ 
bags that were full of clothes, the blanket and oil¬ 
cloth, and other things of this sort, unbuckled my 
sw T ord, which I had captured at Martinsburg, Virginia, 
and folding them all in a bundle, took them to a near¬ 
by house and left them, telling the inmates that I 
would call for them as soon as I could get back and 
asking that they please keep them for me. 

I never recovered them. When I visited Charlotte 
long afterwards and went out where I left them, I 
found the house had been burned and no traces of the 
inhabitants could ever be found by me. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


119 


The sword I left with the baggage, I had carried 
through all the Virginia campaigns. It was a Toledo 
blade, beautifully engraved, with a gold hilt that cov¬ 
ered the hand, containing fine filigree work. It had 
evidently been some officer’s sword. I have always 
regretted the loss of this sword, as I think it would 
have been a pleasant souvenir to hand down through 
the family succession. 

I went back to my horse, and after lightening the 
burden on her in the way described, I got her to her 
feet and led her for two or three days on the way to 
Tennessee. She gradually recovered and I was able 
to ride, after she more fully recovered. 

I was not permitted to remain at home very long. 
The country was full of Federal troops and as soon 
as it became known that I had reached home I was ar¬ 
rested by the Federal soldiers and, together with a 
large number of other Confederates, was carried to 
Strawberry Plains, where we were held in camp and 
fed on Federal army rations for a week or two. Thence 
we were taken to Chattanooga and put into the Fed¬ 
eral prison. Thence to Murfreesboro, and thence to 
Nashville. 

When we got to Nashville our company had reach¬ 
ed about fifteen hundred prisoners. We were brought 
up before the Provost Marshal, registered and sworn, 
and were then ordered to be taken across to the peni¬ 
tentiary to be kept there, I never knew how long. 

We had to cross through the city to reach the peni¬ 
tentiary. Vast crowds had gathered on the sides of 
the streets to see us pass. Guards were stationed on 
either side of us at stated intervals and we walked in 
the center of the street. The idea came to me as I 
walked along that it would be forever a disgrace to me 
if I should be put in the penitentiary of my native 


120 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


State. I, therefore, determined to evade this if pos¬ 
sible. 

I had on my person an army haversack, in which 
I carried a long white duster to keep my uniform clean 
on the dusty thoroughfares of Virginia, Maryland and 
Pennsylvania. I took out this duster and put it on over 
my uniform and told my file leader, who was not in 
uniform, that I intended to get away at the first chance. 
He agreed to join me and, on reaching a crossing where 
the crowd was very large and pressed together, we 
stepped aside, rushed quickly through the crowd and 
went down the street a short distance where we turned 
into an alley; then with all the celerity we could mus¬ 
ter, ran at top speed toward another part of the town. 
We soon got away from the crowd into a quiet street 
and, meeting one of the citizens, a gentleman who had 
a good face, we stopped him and asked if there were 
any Confederates living in the town close by. He said 
to us: “I can’t tell you. It would be worth a man’s 
life to admit that he was a rebel in this town. But I 
can say this; do you see that house?” pointing, “That 
man raised and equipped a company of Rebel soldiers. 
I don’t say he is a Rebel, but you can draw your own 
inferences.” 

We went through the back door into the house and 
were met by a beautiful young girl, who threw up her 
hands and shrieked, “Oh, mama, Oh, mama, come 
here!” She evidently took us for robbers but I hastily 
threw my duster open and showing my uniform said 
to her: “We are Confederate soldiers just escaped 
from the guard and have come to seek help to get 
away.” 

When her mother came and saw that'we were South¬ 
ern soldiers, she burst into tears and kissed us and 
said she had two boys in the army and she would treat 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


121 


us just as if we had been her own. She -gave me a 
suit of citizen’s clothes, which I immediately put on, 
rolling up my old uniform, so that I could carry it, 
and then she gave us $15.00 in United States currency. 
Taking this, we walked to the nearest railway station 
out of the city, took the train and came to what was 
then Henderson’s Station, now known as Afton on the 
Southern Railroad. This road was torn up from that 
point to Jonesboro and we walked the rest of the way 
to our homes. 

FIRST WARNINGS OF BROWNLOW’S WAR 

Following the episode at Nashville and my return 
home, a short period of rest was allowed us in East 
Tennessee. But the political clouds were gathering 
and the threat of storm and lightning was in the air. 

After the country had begun to settle down some¬ 
what and the realization prevailed that the great Civil 
War was over I was called to visit Nashville on busi¬ 
ness of some nature. When I reached there I think 
the Legislature was in session; at least I met a num¬ 
ber of representatives from East Tennessee. They all 
expressed friendliness to me and I took it for granted 
that the war was really over. 

In a short time, however, I was informed that Gov¬ 
ernor Brownlow had decided to send the Union troops 
back home as fast as they were mustered out, carry¬ 
ing their arms with them, and thus had laid the foun¬ 
dation for the great war named after him. The pur¬ 
pose of this war was to drive the Rebels who had sym¬ 
pathized with or taken part on the Southern side, into 
exile; to confiscate their lands and take their property 
for the Union sympathizers. The notice of this war 
was given to me by the following incident: 

Among other persons whom I met at the time 


122 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


was Robert Johnson, the oldest son of President John¬ 
son. We sat down at the door of the State Capitol 
and talked over our several adventures in the war. 
While there, the word came to us that a delegation 
had gone before Governor Brownlow that morning 
and asked that the Union soldiers, who were being dis¬ 
banded, might carry their side arms with them to East 
Tennessee. This request was put on the ground that 
the Rebels had brought their own arms home and that 
the Union soldiers would be at a great disadvantage 
if they were turned loose among the Rebels unarmed. 
Mr. Brownlow replied to the petition in these words: 
“Yes, gentlemen, you may not only take your side arms 
with you but you may take your cannon also.” 

When the report of this occurrence was given to Mi. 
Johnson and myself he turned, put his hand on my 
shoulder and said: “Nat, you needn’t be disturbed over 
this. I will take care of you and your people. You 
can rely on this.” 

I think he meant every word of it, but he did not 
live long afterwards and died I think before the worst 
came on our people. My father must have loved him, 
though they had spoken on opposite sides of the great 
questions that divided the Nation at that time. 

For the words that he spoke to me that day I have 
had in remembrance the whole family, and I wish I 
could lay a tribute on the grave of the son, whose 
genius, b.y its opening splendor, bade fair to eclipse 
that of his wonderful father. 

Shortly after I reached home I found my worst fore¬ 
bodings realized. No historian has yet disclosed the 
awful horrors through which the Southern people in 
East Tennessee passed when the new war began. Suits 
were brought in all the courts against the Rebel sympa¬ 
thizers to recover damages for the loss of cows and 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


123 


sheep and hogs and horses and other property by the 
Union men. Wherever a Union man had suffered loss 
of this sort at the hands of the Confederate forces he 
sued his Rebel neighbor, alleging a conspiracy and re¬ 
covering judgment against him as an actor in the great 
rebellion. 

These judgments were afterwards declared uncon¬ 
stitutional by the higher courts, but many homes were 
broken up and much property was lost before this 
ruling was made. Armed bands made up of former 
soldiers of the Union, began to move throughout the 
country, threatening, beating and killing the South¬ 
ern soldiers who had returned to their homes. The 
slightest resistance to these marauders brought instant 
death to those who stood up against them, and as 
Civil Law no longer existed, there was no semblance 
of protection. Notices were given to all Southern sol¬ 
diers and sympathizers in many localities to leave the 
country and a failure to obey resulted ofttimes in a hor¬ 
rible death. 

This war was more severe in those communities, 
where the Union sympathizers had been strongest. 
They had suffered from the persecutions and oppression 
of the Southern soldiery, who were either organized 
there or passed through their midst. When the draft 
came thousands of these Union men had fled in the 
night to Kentucky and other northern states where they 
either joined the army or went into civil business. They 
came back home after the war with hearts full of re¬ 
sentment, which soon took the form of terrible hos¬ 
tility. 

The Rebels generally belonged to the better classes 
of East Tennessee, property owners, and it was open¬ 
ly boasted by the returning Union soldiers and their 
sympathizers that “the bottom rail was on top,” and 


124 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


they intended it to stay on top, and consequently the 
presence of the Rebels was no longer desirable in the 
community. 

My father, Dr. Alexander N. Harris, had been 
closely connected with the Southern side from the be¬ 
ginning. He had aided in taking Tennessee out of 
the Union, and as a consequence indictments for trea¬ 
son were found against him in both the Federal and 
State courts. 

But the armed hordes, that had set out to depopu¬ 
late the East Tennessee section by driving its Rebel 
sympathizers beyond its borders, proceeded with a spe¬ 
cial vindictiveness against my father. Word came to 
him that he must leave the country or suffer the ulti¬ 
mate consequences. 

He went into hiding; some of his neighbors furnish¬ 
ing him an asylum. Crowds of armed men continually 
visited the home and sought to capture him for the de¬ 
clared purpose of killing him. The men who hunted 
him were the men whom he had treated with most 
kindness in the county. He was very benevolent and 
had kept many persons from starvation by dividing 
the last bushel of corn with them. These were the bit¬ 
terest on his trail. He slept in the attic of a Dunkard 
Church, near the old home, and was fed by one of its 
members who kept the secret for him. I had heard 
my father complain about this old man, who would 
kill his hogs, wound and bruise his cows and calves, 
when they would get over into his fields, showing little 
mercy to the intruders. My father thought he was 
hard-hearted and had little of the milk of human kind¬ 
ness in his body, but when misfortunes came upon my 
father, of all the neighbors the old Dunkard stuck 
closer to him than any other and saved his life many 
times. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


125 


While this persecution was in progress my father, 
together with a number of his neighbors, was called 
on to answer the indictments in the Federal Courts for 
treason and for this purpose was carried to Knox¬ 
ville. The indictments included a great number of 
the Rebel sympathizers in East Tennessee, and Judge 
Trigg, who was presiding on the Circuit bench, called 
the defendants in the indictments to appear before him 
for trial. They all proceeded to Knoxville accord¬ 
ingly. 

An event that occurred in this trial did more to 
break my father’s heart and bring about his death 
than anything that happened during these trying 
times. To understand this it will be necessary to go 
back a year or two. The fortunes of the war had 
compelled by father to refugee and, in order to protect 
his family from the roving bands that went up and 
down the country, he rented a house in Jonesboro and 
moved them there. The armies fought all through 
the upper portion of East Tennessee. Sometimes the 
Federals would occupy the country as far up as Bris¬ 
tol. At other times the Southern armies would drive 
the Union soldiers back toward Knoxville, and the 
lower counties of East Tennessee. When the South¬ 
ern soldiers were in possession my father would come 
back home to the family and when the Union soldiers 
prevailed he would refugee, going out with the retir¬ 
ing soldiery to Virginia. On one occasion when the 
Southern soldiers were in possession of the disputed 
ground and my father was at home, he was walking 
along the streets of Jonesboro and met a detachment 
of Confederate soldiers having in charge a Union sym¬ 
pathizer, who had been captured on the raid. 

My father was a minister and Mason. The prisoner 
was a minister also, of the same church, and when he 


126 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


saw my father in the street he at once gave to him 
what the Masons know as the “Grand Hailing Signal 
of Distress.” After acknowledging this my father 
walked along with the lieutenant in command of the 
detachment, inquiring the particulars concerning the 
arrest of the prisoner, and especially as to the dispo¬ 
sition that was intended to be made of him. The lieu¬ 
tenant stated that they were on the way to Richmond 
to deliver him to the authorities of the Libby Prison 
there, adding that the prisoner was a notorious Union 
sympathizer, who had been guilty of treason and other 
crimes against the Confederacy, that would justify his 
detention for the remainder of the war. My father 
then invited the lieutenant and the detachment to come 
to supper with him, saying that he would be glad to en¬ 
tertain him and do any other things to help him. The 
lieutenant accepted his invitation and went to my 
father’s house to take supper, carrying his prisoner 
with him. 

When supper was ready my father suggested that 
the soldiers go to the dining room first, leaving the 
prisoner in his possession. This was agreeable and 
the soldiers left the room and began the meal. My 
father then raised the window on the side of the house, 
farthest from the road and told the prisoner to go. 
He did so. Meantime, when the meal was nearly con¬ 
cluded, my father raised an outcry, announcing that 
the prisoner was trying to escape, and ran to the door 
pointing in a different direction from that which 
the prisoner was taking. The search was in vain and 
the prisoner escaped. When my father was arraigned 
for trial on the indictment for treason his counsel, who 
was Col. William Henry Maxwell, of Jonesboro, 
moved a continuance, alleging that the defendant hoped 
to secure an early pardon from the President, and asked 
for time until his petition could be determined. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


127 


All the other defendants made the same plea and 
Judge Trigg promptly granted the same. He turned 
to my father then and said: “Dr. Harris, I suppose 
you can give bond for your appearance at the trial?” 
My father turned and saw standing in the court the 
man whom he had turned loose from the Confederate 
soldiers while they took supper at his home in Jones¬ 
boro. He said, “I think, Your Honor, I see a gentle¬ 
man here who will stand my bond.” And then turn¬ 
ing to Milburn he said: “Brother Milburn, won’t you 
stand my bond?” 

Milburn drew himself up and an indescribable scowl 
came upon his features as he replied, “No, Sir, I will 
not stand your bond. Hell is full of people like you 
already, where you will be in a short time yourself!” 

The tears rushed to my father’s eyes and he stag¬ 
gered and would have fallen, but for the fact that 
two of his neighbors, Adam Sliger and William Reeves, 
of Boone’s Creek, who were also indicted, rushed for¬ 
ward and caught him by the shoulders and said so 
all in the court house could hear them: “Don’t mind 
it, Aleck, we will stand your bond. You have plenty 
of friends here who will stand by you.” 

The awful injustice—the horrible exhibition of in¬ 
gratitude, broke the poor old man’s heart and he never 
recovered from it. His death occurred about six weeks 
afterwards. 

When he returned home the persecution became 
fiercer than ever. The house was searched again and 
again for him and notices were nailed on the door tell¬ 
ing him that death would be his portion if he attempt¬ 
ed to remain longer in the country. It was at this 
juncture that the old Dunkard came to his help, as 
hereinbefore stated, and hid him in the attic of the 
Dunkard Church, standing near the upper line of the 
homestead. 


128 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


He was watched, however, and his hiding place be¬ 
came known, and arrangements were made by his 
neighbor persecutors to arrest and kill him. The night 
was fixed, when some kind friend, getting word of it, 
gave him notice and advised him to leave. 

One of our neighbors had been a captain in the 
Union army. He had never taken part in the perse¬ 
cutions and my father sent for him and asked him to 
go with him across to North Carolina and protect him 
on the way. His name was Captain Nelson McLaugh¬ 
lin, and he immediately agreed to my father’s request, 
and on the night before the bands were to arrest him 
he and Captain McLaughlin rode through the dark, 
going by the “Greasy Cove” and on to the North Car¬ 
olina line. 

Captain McLaughlin wore his soldier’s uniform and 
when he would meet the Union vigilantes he would 
vouch for my father, saying, “This man is all right. 
I am taking him up here to see some of his sick peo¬ 
ple,” or some like excuse. In this way he reached the 
North Carolina line where the Captain left him and 
came back. 

So my father traveled alone on horse-back, through 
the long stretch of country that lies between the Ten¬ 
nessee line and the town of Kingston, in the State of 
Georgia. What thoughts he had on the way no one 
can tell. He was leaving home and family and what 
friends remained, and going into a far country to seek 
among strangers the home that was denied him in his 
native land. For twenty years he had ministered to 
these people in East Tennessee. He had taught them 
the principles of religion. He had attended them in 
sickness, aided them as a physician, brought many of 
their children into the world, helped them in thousands 
of ways, getting very little compensation from any of 
them. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


129 


There were some men of property that employed 
him as a physician, but the majority were poor people, 
living in log cabins in the mountains or in the little 
valleys, struggling with poverty and many times work¬ 
ing out from home for a living. He put very few 
charges on his books, yet when he was driven away 
the unsettled accounts amounted to more than twenty 
thousand dollars. A country doctor, he had carried 
his medicines along with him, furnished them free, 
furnished his services free to the people who now 
sought to kill him or drive him into an endless exile. 
No more inexplicable example of indescribable ingrati¬ 
tude, I think, was ever presented in the world’s history. 

To what depths of degradation, demoralization and 
bitter hatred had this community descended when they 
drove into exile the man who had always befriended 
them. 

And all that he had done was to favor the side of 
the Confederacy and aid in the administration of its 
affairs. He had acted as a surgeon for a portion of 
the time in one of the regiments that went to Vicks¬ 
burg, but resigned soon after and took up his practice 
again. 

He went to Kingston, Georgia, first and then three 
miles above to the home of his nephews, who, refugee- 
ing from Virginia, had purchased a fine old homestead 
at that point. He began to preach in the churches at 
various points throughout the country, and it was said 
that his sermons were more powerful than any he had 
ever delivered in former days. It was the swan song, 
for his heart was broken and his body was failing fast. 

When we received advice from Georgia that he 
had gotten through safely we made preparations to go 
to him. Meantime, the persecution continued against 
me. Notices began to appear, nailed to the door, di- 


130 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


recting me to leave the country. Limits were set. The 
house was searched several times. My mother used 
to say that they even tore up the door step between 
the kitchen and the living room to see if I had hidden 
underneath it. 

While this was going on I lived in a lime sink near¬ 
by, or a “sink hole,” as we called it, in the day time 
and would come out at night to sleep on a little eleva¬ 
tion adjacent to the sink hole. Here I learned to sleep 
with one eye open, watching for the coming of the 
“Avengers,” so called. I have seen at night the whole 
horizon lit up with the burning houses of the Rebels. 
Their foe had begun a war of extermination and they 
meant to carry it forward till every Rebel was ban¬ 
ished from the land. My father held a civil posi¬ 
tion part of the time in the Confederate Govern¬ 
ment, but the only objection to me was that I had worn 
the Confederate gray. 

While this was going on my mother informed me 
one day that it would be necessary for me to go to 
Jonesboro and buy some coffee and sugar and other 
necessities for her, as she proposed to leave for Geor¬ 
gia as soon as possible to join my father. I deter¬ 
mined to take the risk and go. I had brought home 
with me a fine Colt’s revolver, five-inch barrel, and I 
buckled this under my clothes and went to the town. 

After I had made the purchases and was getting 
ready to leave, someone came running into the store 
where I was trading and said: “There is a drunken 
Union soldier coming down the street shooting at 
everybody that he meets and he is hunting for you.” 
Someone had evidently informed him that I was in 
town. I was advised to leave at once. 

My horse was hitched on what is known as Sevier 
Hill near where one of my mother’s sisters formerly 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


131 


lived, and where I was accustomed to stop. I dashed 
across the little bridge, ran up to where the jail is now 
located, towards my horse. The man saw me and 
came after me with curses and yells like a Comanche 
Indian. He was on horse-back and had a pistol in each 
hand and held his bridle in his teeth. 

When I had gone nearly half way up the hill I saw 
that he would overtake me, that I could not escape 
him, and I concluded that my last moments were near. 
I turned in the center of the road, drew the revolver 
that never missed fire and never missed the object at 
which I aimed it, for I could kill a squirrel in the tall¬ 
est tree with it. As he came rushing up towards me 
I leveled it at him and called out in the loudest voice 
possible, “Halt, if you come a step nearer you are a 
dead man.” He heard my voice and saw the pistol, 
evidently, for he jerked his horse back on its haunches 
and cried out, “Hello, what does this mean?” I did 
not answer anything, but held the pistol straight at his 
forehead. He looked into its muzzle for what seemed 
to me almost an age, and then he turned and rode back 
down into town. 

I can never forget the feeling that came over me 
as I stood up fronting him on the old hill-side, where 
I had played as a boy. I had resolved to die and de¬ 
cided that this was as good a cause as would ever come 
to me. I got on my horse as soon as possible and left 
the town, for I knew the posse would be after me as 
soon as he informed his associates of my action. They 
searched the house, but I was hidden in the sink hole. 

A day or so after this I determined to go down 
to some families on the river to see if I could collect 
a little money for my mother’s journey to Georgia. 
My father’s book-keeper was Jeff Wilson, an old- 
fashioned Southern gentleman, who never charged him 


132 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


a cent for his work and who took down his accounts 
from little pieces of paper, scraps from envelopes, and 
such things, that he carried in his pockets, for as I 
have said, he never kept any accounts himself. These 
he would turn over to Mr. Wilson, and from them the 
accounts were constructed. 

This visit had thrown me back considerably and I 
was kept till dark going home. When I arrived with¬ 
in about a mile of the home I heard voices in the road 
some considerable distance ahead, as if some trav¬ 
elers had grown a little hilarious as they were return¬ 
ing home from Jonesboro. Of course I could not tell 
that there was any danger, but I felt the “hunch” that 
I have spoken of before, and turned aside from the 
road into the woods. It was very dark, and pretty 
soon I could tell that a considerable crowd was mov¬ 
ing along the road and I heard some of them say: 
“We’ll get him yet if we have to lay in wait and watch 
for a week.” 

After they had passed me I went back into the road 
and soon reached home. There my mother told me 
that the “vigilantes” had just left after searching the 
house for me and breathing out threats against me. 
I learned afterwards that they met an inoffensive col¬ 
ored man about half a mile beyond the point where 
they had passed me and in the dark they rushed up 
to him, jerked him from his horse, threw him into the 
gutter and sat astride of him and were about to kill 
him, though he was crying out, “I am a colored man— 
I am a negro. You needn’t hurt me.” They evident¬ 
ly mistook him for me. Someone a little more sober 
than the rest, heard the cry, and stopped the men in 
time to save his life. 

I used to think I had escaped by the skin of my 
teeth. Soon after this my mother left for Georgia 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


133 


and my brother Joe and I started out with one wagon, 
which he drove, while I rode a mule, following him. 
Captain McLaughlin escorted us both across the line 
again and we arranged with him to occupy our house 
while we were gone. So he stayed with us several 
years. 

APPLYING FOR PARDONS IN EAST 
TENNESSEE 

When the persecution began in East Tennessee it 
soon took the form of indictments for treason. A 
great many of the most prominent citizens who sur¬ 
vived the war were presented to the Federal Grand 
Jury at Knoxville and indictments for treason obtained 
against them. 

I drew up, at my father’s dictation, a petition to be 
presented to the President, setting forth his connec¬ 
tion with the Confederacy and stating his desire to be 
restored to citizenship since peace had come again. 
This petition was signed by a large number of citi¬ 
zens, who had been on the Union side, whose kindly 
hearts desired to see a real restoration of peace to their 
war-worn community. 

I carried the petition around to the loyal citizens in 
Jonesboro and not one man refused to sign. I recog¬ 
nized it was as a great compliment to my father’s 
standing and worth in the country. This petition, 
when completed, was sent on to a kinsman of the fam¬ 
ily, who was serving in Congress, with the request that 
it be presented to the President, which request was 
made by my mother. Unfortunately, at that time the 
spirit which had gotten abroad in our community had 
not reached Washington, and the Congressman to 
whom it was sent, we were told afterwards, had put 
it in his desk and never presented it. 

Many other citizens who had been indicted sent their 


134 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


petitions through Governor Brownlow at Nashville, 
to be forwarded by him to the President. The main 
purpose was to get the petition to the President’s own 
eye, as nearly all those applying had been personal 
friends of Mr. Johnson before the days of secession 
and it was believed that he would be glad to help out 
his old friends and former supporters. My father 
was sure that if Mr. Johnson ever saw his petition the 
pardon would be immediately granted. A great num¬ 
ber of the petitions reached the President and in every 
case a pardon was issued. 

A striking incident occurred touching these pardons. 
There was an old Methodist class leader, who owned 
a large farm on the Nola Chucky and was generally 
well off in a worldly sense. He had moved to Jones¬ 
boro, actuated by the same ideas as those of my father, 
to avoid the roving bands of marauders that were go¬ 
ing up and down the country-side. He had been a 
class leader in the church and accounted himself a 
strong friend of Governor Brownlow, having attended 
many meetings where the Governor had officiated as a 
minister, and often meeting him around the same church 
altar. His name was Boyles. 

He was indicted for treason at the same time with 
my father and he sent on his petition for pardon 
through Governor Brownlow, asking him to approve 
it and forward it to the President. A great many 
others took the same course. Nothing was heard of 
these petitions and while the petitioners were waiting 
with longing expectation the Governor came to Jones¬ 
boro on a special train to meet the citizens and I sup¬ 
pose to transact some business pertaining to his office. 
When he alighted from the train Mr. Broyles went 
up and shook hands with him, expressing his delight at 
seeing him again, and then told him how he had sent 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


135 


his petition for pardon through his office at Nash¬ 
ville, and enquired what had been done concerning the 
same. The Governor replied, “Oh, yes, I received 
your petition; approved it, and sent it on to the Presi¬ 
dent without delay. That it has not been acted on is 
the fault of the President entirely. He is not paying 
much attention to the people here.” 

A week or so later a number of the citizens who had 
forwarded their petitions came together and determ¬ 
ined to send a man to Washington to look into the 
matter and see what caused the delay. A great num¬ 
ber of pardons had been issued, but the President in 
some way had overlooked a greater number, who sent 
their documents through the office at Nashville. The 
money was made up to pay the expenses of a messen¬ 
ger and Mr. Adam Broyles, a prominent merchant and 
leading citizen of Broylesville, very close to where 
President Johnson had lived through all his political 
career, was sent on to confer with the President and 
ascertain the cause of the delay. Mr. Broyles, on his 
return, gave a full account of the results of his visit. 
The President allowed him prompt access to his office 
when he called at the White House, and after the 
usual courtesies, he asked the President what had been 
done with the petitions for pardons for the citizens of 
Washington County, naming Jacob F. Broyles and a 
number of others. Mr. Johnson immediately said: 
“I have never seen these petitions; they have never 
been presented to me.” 

He then called for his Secretary and directed a 
search to be made, and in a short while the petitions 
were found and brought in to the President. He was 
acquainted with Jacob F. Broyles, and immediately 
opened the document. At the foot of it was written 
these words: 


136 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


“This is not the class of persons deserving Execu¬ 
tive clemency. (Signed) William G. Brownlow, Gov¬ 
ernor of Tennessee.” 

Mr. Johnson smiled as he saw this and said: “I 
think it is,” and wrote below the words: “Let this 
pardon issue immediately,” signing it officially. 

The disapproval of the Governor had prevented the 
Secretary from placing these petitions before the Pres¬ 
ident. 

The messenger returned with the pardons in his 
pocket and delighted the applicants by delivering them. 

It was ascertained that my father’s petition had 
never reached the President. It is needless to say 
that Jacob F. Broyles lost faith in the Governor of 
Tennessee when the messenger returned. 

It is probable that the Governor had forgotten the 
transaction, as a great number of these petitions had 
gone through his office, and he took the risk in order to 
make the old man feel better towards him and blamed 
the President for the delay. Meantime my father 
waited in Georgia, always believing that if his petition 
reached the President it would be promptly granted. 
The dread of appearing in the court added no little 
to the burden which he carried. 

The transaction in Jonesboro, when my father step¬ 
ped between Mr. Johnson and the angry mob and put 
his own life in jeopardy to save him, could not have 
passed from Mr. Johnson’s mind, and had the pardon 
reached Georgia in time the life-that was so dear to 
us all might have been prolonged. 

I think the Congressman to whom the petition for 
pardon was sent intended to present it, but in the mul¬ 
tiplicity of his duties it escaped his attention until it 
was too late. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


137 


REPRISALS IN EAST TENNESSEE 

The general condition in East Tennessee has been 
described. In many cases the vengeance of the Union 
soldiers or “bush-whackers” fell on some of my own 
kindred. Two instances occurred before the war 
ended: 

I have already referred to the fate which overtook 
one of my cousins, Fiske Harris, a son of my uncle, 
C. W. C. Harris. He was shot on the threshold of 
his home, while held in his sister’s arms, as I have 
heretofore described. 

It was another proof of the fearful demoralization 
that had come upon the neighborhood, for it turned 
out afterwards when facts were better known, that 
some of his nearest neighbors were members of the 
band that ruthlessly murdered him, in a spirit of re¬ 
venge. 

A case of equal atrocity happened in Carter County, 
near the Washington County line. Robert Tipton, 
who was a nephew of the wife of Senator Landon C. 
Haynes, had come home to spend a few days with his 
people. He held a commission as Captain and was es¬ 
teemed as a very clever gentleman, brave and chival¬ 
rous and without stain. While he was sleeping at his 
home one night, a band of men, led by a man named 
Hetherly, of the mountains, surrounded the house, cap¬ 
tured him, and shot him down in cold blood, with the 
reckless cruelty of medieval days. 

It can be well understood that such transactions gave 
rise to a fierce desire on the part of the Southern sym¬ 
pathizers to wage heavy returns upon the persons en¬ 
gaged in the warfare. It became ruthless, and often¬ 
times without the suggestion of mercy on either side. 

Fiske Harris had been my playmate from boyhood. 


138 * 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


Although he was older than I, yet we had attended 
school together in Jonesboro and entertained the warm¬ 
est feelings for each other as kinsmen and friends. 

Bob Tipton was known in our family as a young 
man of brilliant promise, a good soldier, a courageous 
gentleman, and promising to reach a high position in 
the army. Such deaths under such circumstances turn¬ 
ed to gall any milk of human kindness in the Southern 
souls of East Tennessee. Murders w r ere multiplied, 
occurring day by day in every neighborhood and 
throughout the whole country. The men who did these 
deeds so long as the government rested in the hands 
of the Southern people, lived out in the mountains or 
in the caves and did their marauding in the night time, 
on the families of the Southern sympathizers. 

No wonder, therefore, there was a war declared 
that had very few parallels in the history of the Na¬ 
tion, after the Union men had triumphed and come 
back to their homes with guns in their hands. The 
controversy then assumed a different aspect. The South¬ 
erner took refuge in the caves and forests while the 
Northerner hunted him out for destruction. 

My uncle, Nat Haynes, my mother’s youngest 
brother, who was incapacitated for military service, 
having lost the use of one of his legs in his youth, told 
of the terrible fate that fell on the leader of the band 
that caused the death of Bob Tipton. Hetherly of the 
Mountains, had organized a larg'e force of bush¬ 
whackers, which raided the low lands at intervals and 
at the head of which he had captured Tipton and mur¬ 
dered him at the home of Tipton’s people, as set out 
above. After the war, in a gathering in Carter Coun¬ 
ty, near the Buffalo Creek, Hetherly was telling of the 
murder of Tipton as one of his great achievements and 
in the course of the narrative made fun of the way he 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


139 


said Tipton begged for his life. He spoke sneeringly 
of the young man’s pleading and imitated the way he 
begged to be spared, alleging that it showed cowardice, 
as the young man would have run if he had been turn¬ 
ed loose. 

About half an hour after Hetherly had been brag¬ 
ging over the achievement and ridiculing poor Tipton, 
a gentleman who was present stepped up to Hetherly 
and began a quarrel with him. The quarrel grew fiercer 
and in the progress of it the assailant of Hetherly drew 
a pistol from his pocket and fired at Hetherly, mor¬ 
tally wounding him. In a moment Hetherly turned 
and ran with all his might, screaming and yelling at 
the top of his voice and begging for his life and, while 
still running, he plunged upon his face and died. My 
old uncle said that the spirit of Bob Tipton was close 
by in the air when Hetherly shouted his death cry. 

JOURNEY TO GEORGIA 

I have written several descriptions of our journey 
to Georgia. Some of these were headed “Short Cuts 
on a Journey to Georgia,” in which the journey was 
analogized to a trip from bondage to liberty, with the 
ancient Israelites in mind. It was a slow journey over¬ 
land and required more than ten days to make. We 
turned aside from the old military road laid out by 
General Jackson and had reached Bartow County, near 
the place that my father had rented for a home. He 
had written telling us that he had secured a farm with 
a good house near old Pine Log. 

We reached this point one afternoon about the third 
of November and were met by our kinsman, Dr. J. P. 
Hunter, who informed us of the serious illness of our 
father, and advised us to get to him as soon as prac- 


140 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


ticable. My brother Joe stopped at the farm with the 
wagon and horses while I rode on with Dr. Hunter. 

The doctor studied medicine under my father and 
about the time he was ready for admission to prac¬ 
tice had joined the Southern army and served through 
the war as a member of an artillery company. His 
service had brought him under the ban of the Union 
soldiers and he had refugeed likewise, to find a tem¬ 
porary home in Georgia. His fortune had led him to 
the same point where my father stopped with his kin¬ 
dred near Kingston. 

We rode from Pine Log, through the gloaming, a 
distance of some fifteen miles, to the home of my cou¬ 
sins, Mack and James Harris. I lost no time, but 
hurried to my father’s bedside. I found him very 
low, out of his head, and death approaching fast. He 
seemed to know me when I called him, and rose up in 
the bed to put his arms around me, with my help, of 
course. It was only a moment that he roused himself 
and then sank back into the coma that preceded disso¬ 
lution. He died the third day afterwards, on the 
sixth of November. 

My father was attended by his nephew, Dr. Cramp- 
ton Harris, and a Dr. Jones of Kingston. My mother 
and the children had reached his bedside several days 
before. 

While my father was dying and I watched beside his 
bed at night I wrote the following verses, crude and 
rough, but telling the sorrow of a son’s loving heart. 
I had always respected him and admired him, as well 
as loved him. I recognized his powerful intellect and 
his brilliant endowments as a thinker and a speaker. 
I have heard very few men who could move an audi¬ 
ence as he. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


141 


A WATCH BESIDE A FATHER’S DEATH-BED 

Watching, watching as the hours creep slowly by 
The sad, dull pattering of the rain without 
The gasping breath—or feeble feverish cry 
That withers up the soul, the longing hope 
That life will cling nor quit its failing hold 
Within the languid clay; the abrupt stop 
Existence makes within its course of old. 

The gloomy thought that crowds upon the brain 
In ceaseless whirl that ere long will be 
An orphan—homeless, lost—the spectral train 
Within the track of coming years I see, 

When life drags on without a father’s care 
That harbor for the troubled soul of youth; 

The altar where he knelt to God in prayer 
Deserted, ’reft of him who spake its truth. 

Tonight all, all arise to break my heart 
As slow, the weary moments pass me by 
Beside a fathers death-bed. Oft I start 
And oh! my heart is wrung with grief to see 
Delirious pain transfix the breast and pierce 
His life, of mine the author. Oh! to watch 
The progress of the monster as with fierce 
Avidity he nears our midst to snatch 

Our bosom’s love away. To mark, Oh God! 

The feeble breath—the livid hue and eyes 

From which the sight has fled, the leaping blood 
The changeful mutterings and delirious cries 
Presaging death’s advance ******* 
************ Alone, alone 
The murky cloud of night that wraps the earth 
As midnight creeps apace is but in tone 
With that which shrouds my heart. The wild dark dearth 
That hope receding makes it but a way 
Smooth paved for fell despair ******** 
*********** The ] amp 0 £ iif e 
Burns feebly yet, but sure—tho’ slow decay 
Still gnaws and gnaws and soon will end the strife. 

I’m watching still and still the ceaseless rain 
Keeps pattering on the roof. The little hours 
Of morning drag along. I stop again 
To hear death’s nearing footsteps on the floor 
But hark! a dying murmur meets my ear 
The last that conscious nature gives—a sigh 

Of pain, that marks the monster's footsteps near, 

His fastened fangs presage, “My son. come nigh.” 

My father’s arms are ’round my neck, his breath . 

Falls thick upon my cheek, while fast and hot 

My tears make moist his breast—he speak c —Oh! death 
Thy step is near—My Father knows me not! 

November, night, 3rd, 1865. 


142 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


My father’s death left the mother with a family 
of eleven children. All our property had been dissi¬ 
pated by the results of the war. My father was a 
slave holder, and of course this species of property was 
all gone. The home was almost destroyed, a brigade 
of Union cavalry having camped upon it for some time. 
The timber was cut and the fences were burned; the 
out houses were destroyed, and there was only deso-. 
lation where the family had dwelt in Tennessee. 

After consultation we decided to bury our father in 
Georgia. We were exiles, driven from home and 
could not take him back. There was a church near by 
called “Conisena” and here we determined to make 
his grave. It was a Baptist church, located in a gap 
of the mountains above Kingston, and the forest trees 
reached down to the small clearing upon which the 
church stood. As we intended to remove his remains 
as soon as possible if our home in East Tennessee was 
resumed, we hunted a place outside and away from 
the other graves, in order that he might be moved the 
more easily and without disturbing the surrounding 
graves. The neighbors gathered in and watched the 
burial, a few words being said by a Presbyterian min¬ 
ister who happened to be present. 

I wrote these verses after his burial, describing the 
surroundings: 


THE ELDER’S GRAVE 

Away in a dark tangled thicket, 

Where dwarf pines and underbrush grow 
Where oaks like tall sentinels picket 
To warn the first notes of the foe. 

Where night-birds screech horrible numbers 
To genii from fountain and glade 
And ceaseless gloom palls his lone slumbers 
The grave of the Elder is made. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


143 


Around him are sleeping the minions 
That people the van of the storm 
Above him weird shadowy pinions 
Sweep over his mouldering form. 

A moment the daylight is stealing 
To brighten his clay-covered tomb 
One moment—when staggered and reeling 
It yields the dominions to gloom. 

Cut off by the malice of foemen, 

From home and the friends of his breast 
The hands of the kind mountain yeomen 
Have laid him with strangers to rest. 

The echoless graves which are near him, 
No bones of his kindred contain, 

No brethren, who learned to revere him, 
Inhabit the silent domain. 

And Nature will watch o’er his slumbers, 

A mourner through fathomless years 
Will chant for his requiem her numbers 
And weep o’er his bosom her tears. 

And, oh, if the angels are holding 
A crown for a suffering son, 

He’ll wear it thru cycles unfolding 
With stars for his martyrdom won. 

When Time with its leaps and its dashes 
Has finished its ruin strewed road 
His body will spring from its ashes 
To herald the trumpet of Godl 


When the family returned to East Tennessee we 
were never able to move my father’s remains. A large 
number of his kindred, who had come to Georgia, had 
died in the meantime and were buried near him and 
the plot in the grave yard was set aside for these. I 
erected a marble shaft over his grave with the date of 
his birth and death and we left him to sleep in Geor¬ 
gia soil. 

After his death the family took possession of the 
house and home that he had rented. We had brought 


144 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


down our horses and some of the plows which we used 
in Tennessee on the old farm and we began with these 
to prepare for making a crop. The farm was rented 
from a Mr. Gibbons, a Virginian, who had moved from 
that state and had purchased several large tracts of 
land in the neighborhood. He was a clever, genial old 
gentleman, and showed great sympathy for the exiles. 
His oldest son, John R. Gibbons, who had served in 
the Confederate army in Virginia, became one of my 
closest friends. 

Our method of farming was entirely new to the cit¬ 
izens around about us. The plows that we brought 
were large turning plows, called the “Holston Farm¬ 
er” and were intended to turn the ground over at a 
depth of from ten to twelve inches. This method had 
never been followed in the neighborhood and the cit¬ 
izens often gathered around the fields where we work¬ 
ed to see the novel sight. I heard some of the old men 
mutter, “This farming will never come to anything. 
These people are running against Nature. God Al¬ 
mighty knew which side of the land to put down and 
it ought not to be disturbed.” 

We planted some cotton, but depended mostly on 
corn and succeeded very well in our first year’s ven¬ 
ture. Our deep plowing saved us from the result of a 
terrible drought that came on us. 

There were about nine hundred acres in the farm. 
The house was painted white, was large and commod¬ 
ious, and the out houses were abundant. We named 
the place “Forest Lodge.” It had been owned by a 
slave-holding family and was consequently in much 
better condition than would naturally have been ex¬ 
pected. 

I was at this time only twenty years of age and my 
brother Joe, who was just seventeen, was the main- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


145 


stay of the family, as he knew how to handle all agri¬ 
cultural implements and was never afraid to work and 
was never idle. My next brother, Alex, had passed 
thirteen and he soon learned to make a full hand on 
the place. 

We remained on the farm for three years, all the 
time trying to recover from the horrors that had come 
on us through the war. None of the children could 
go to school, but all of us tried to improve ourselves, 
the older of us reading and the younger children learn¬ 
ing the rudiments. We went to work by sun-up and 
worked till sun-down, following the broad turning 
plows or the “bull tongues” and shovels, putting out or 
cultivating the crops for our living. 

In the fall of our second year on the farm we raised 
a reasonably good crop, having planted some six or 
seven acres in cotton, which was, of course, an entirely 
new thing to us. This cotton sold at thirty cents a 
pound, and after paying rent, left us some three or 
four bales. We carried it to Kingston and sold it for 
$150.00 a hale, paying a United States tax on each 
bale, amounting to $15.00. 

I did a good deal of writing in the home at night 
and on rainy days, when we could rest from the labors 
of the farm. Several essays were written and many 
verses composed, some of which I shall perhaps in¬ 
clude in another volume of reminiscences. 

My going to college was, of course, one of the great 
events in my life and deserves another chapter. 

HOW I CAME TO GO TO COLLEGE 

In the first year of the Civil War, before I joined 
the army, my father sent me to Jonesboro to purchase 
some drugs to be used in his business as a physician. 


146 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


He bought his goods of a druggist named Dillworth, 
who kept an up-to-date drug store in the town, and 
who, by the way, was a cousin of Walter B. Hill, af¬ 
terwards my partner in Georgia. While I was stand¬ 
ing in the drug store, after making the purchases one 
day, I heard Mr. Dillworth and another gentleman 
conversing about Georgia, with which state Mr. Dili- 
worth seemed to be familiar. He made this remark: 
“For my part I believe Alexander Stephens is a greater 
man than Ben Hill, for Stephens has educated at college 
about fifty young men, furnishing the money for their 
expenses so as to secure to them a college education.” 

The remark lay in my memory and when we had 
come to Georgia, after the war and rented the Pine 
Log place, it came back to me under peculiar circum¬ 
stances. In the third year after our family had set¬ 
tled down, I began to ask myself, “what is to be the 
result, so far as my future is concerned?” 

There were eleven children and a mother to take 
care of and I was the eldest born. I knew that an iron 
destiny held me to the support of the family, as my 
mother regarded me as the new head after my father’s 
death. While I walked along the furrow with the 
plow handles in my hands one day, the conversation be¬ 
tween Mr. Dillworth and the other gentleman, came 
back to me and by the time I had reached the end of 
the row in the field I had determined to write to Mr. 
Stephens and ascertain if he was willing to help a boy 
in my situation. 

That night I found a brown piece of paper and with 
some ink made from the nut galls that fell in the yard 
from the oak trees, with a quill pen, I wrote my letter 
to Mr. Stephens. I recited the conversation I had 
heard concerning him; told him that I was an exile 
from East Tennessee, driven out by the war; that my 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


147 


father had died in Georgia and I was left without any 
funds on earth that could be used to obtain an educa¬ 
tion. I made an appeal to him, adding in the conclu¬ 
sion of the letter about these words: “I believe you 
were in Congress with some of my people.” 

I remember writing with a pencil on the wall that 
night the following scrit that commemorated my di¬ 
lemma for a long time: 

NEEDING A POSTAGE STAMP 

Of all the woes 
Of song and prose 

In life’s bewildering tramp 
No worse is found 
Than when aground 

To need a postage stamp. 

Oh that the race 
Might somehow trace 

In court and hall and camp 
How devilish sore 
Is one too poor 
To buy a postage stamp! 

Ye Gods! the groan 
The rising moan 

As wanes life’s glimmering lamp 
With money fled 
And credit dead 
To want a postage stamp! 


I borrowed the postage stamp and sent this letter 
off with more hope than expectation. 

In due time his reply was received and I was asked 
to come to see him at Crawfordville. Of course this 
created a great sensation. I was able to borrow enough 
money from my neighbors to pay the railroad fare and 
I went down to Crawfordville. He had dated his let¬ 
ter to me from Liberty Hall, and when I reached the 
town and enquired for his residence the citizens show¬ 
ed me where it was and one of them told me to go in 
by the back porch, where I would find Mr. Stephens 
sitting in his usual place. 


148 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


I did so; went up the steps to the back porch and 
saw Mr. Stephens for the first time. He was read¬ 
ing with a large pile of newspapers lying around his 
chair. As I came on the porch he looked at me with 
eyes seemingly black as charcoal, and said: “Who are 
you, Sir?” 

I answered, “I am the boy you wrote to about go¬ 
ing to college.” 

“Ah,” he replied, “come in,” and then without ask¬ 
ing me to take a seat he said: “In your letter you 
stated you thought I was in Congress with some of 
your people. What were their names?” 

I replied: “I think you were in Congress with my 
uncle, N. G. Taylor, who married my mother’s sister.” 

“Ah!” he replied, “Yes, I heard him speak on the 
Kansas Lecompton Compromise in 1855. Anybody 
else?” 

“Yes, Sir, I think you were in the Confederate Sen¬ 
ate with my uncle, Landon C. Haynes, my mother’s 
brother.” 

I saw his eyes flash and his face light up as he re¬ 
plied quickly: “Are you a nephew of Landon C. 
Haynes?” 

I said, “Yes, Sir, he is my mother’s brother.” 
Then he made the remark that rang through my young 
ears for many a day. 

“Landon C. Haynes had more brains in his head 
than all the Confederate Senate moulded into one. If 
you are his nephew I will give you a chance.” 

I then sat down and he stated the terms, telling me 
he would take my note at 4 per cent interest payable 
as soon after graduation as possible, and he fixed the 
amount that he would send me each month. It is 
needless to say that I went back home with a great 
deal of elation. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


149 


When I joined the Army I was prepared to enter 
the Junior class at one of our nearby colleges, but the 
war had driven all such matters out of my head and 
I doubted if I could get into the Sophomore class. 
I had learned more about war than I had about books. 

After I returned home a council of the family was 
called and my mother’s consent to my leaving was ob¬ 
tained. This was secured by the volunteering of my 
brother, Joseph, who was three and one-half years my 
junior, to take charge and look after the family while 
I was absent. I promised that if this was done I would 
make up to him in some way for the sacrifice he was 
making and that my mother should be taken care of 
out of the earnings of her oldest son when I got through 
college. 

This was the way I managed to go to the University. 

AIDED BY DR. WILLIAM H. FELTON 

After I had determined to enter the University and 
had made the arrangements with Mr. Stephens, I be¬ 
gan to review my studies and to take up some of the 
subjects which I saw from an examination of the cat¬ 
alogue, it might be difficult for me to keep up with 
in the institution. 

I made an arrangement with Dr. William H. Fel¬ 
ton, who at that time was accounted the most eloquent 
speaker in Bartow County, in fact, in our part of the 
State. He was a graduate of the University and 
agreed to aid me both in review and in going forward 
with my Latin and Greek studies. I rode from our 
home at Pine Log to his house, a distance of some 
eight or ten miles, twice a week and recited to him. 
His teaching proved to be a great advantage, and with¬ 
out doubt made my entrance into the University cer¬ 
tain. He charged me nothing for this help. 


150 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


The doctor seemed to take considerable interest in 
my career and his good wife, Mrs. Felton, who has 
since achieved a distinction second to no woman in the 
American Union, gave me much advice from which I 
profited throughout all my career. She continued to 
write to me after I had entered college, and I record 
here my thanks to her for the help that she and her 
great husband rendered to me at this time. I think 
I may say that Dr. Felton continued his friendship 
with me until the last day of his life. When the mon¬ 
ument was dedicated to him in Cartersville I made 
one of the principal addresses on that momentous 
occasion. 

MY EXPERIENCE IN SURGERY 

I visited Tennessee one more time before going to 
college. It was in 1867. Residing at Spring Place 
in Murray County, was a connection of the family 
named John Broyles, who had come out from Wash¬ 
ington County under the same’circumstances as I, and 
had married Sarah Harris, daughter of Uncle Wes¬ 
ley Harris, to whom I have referred heretofore. He 
had been seriously wounded in the latter part of the 
war and the wound had never healed. Our family 
always regarded Dr. Paul F. Eve, who taught in the 
medical college at Nashville, as the greatest surgeon 
of our day, and Mr. Broyles was anxious for him to 
perform an operation that was necessary before his 
wound would heal. He wrote and requested me to go 
to Nashville with him, offering to pay all expenses, 
that I might look after him and see that he received 
proper treatment after the operation. I agreed to go, 
and accordingly we met and took the train for Nash¬ 
ville. 

Dr. Eve examined him and declared that he could 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


151 


easily cure the trouble but the method would have to 
be a “major operation,” as the doctors put it. 

The class of students in the medical college to which 
the doctor was lecturing, came down to the operating 
room to observe it. The ether was given and an at¬ 
tendant, who was one of the young students, stood by 
with a basin of water. As the blood began to spurt 
out, this young man turned pale and was about to drop 
the basin on the floor when the doctor quickly turned 
and asked me to take it. I did so, and held it until 
the operation was concluded. I saw a paleness on the 
face of several of the class, when the young man 
staggered and came near dropping the basin. The 
operation was eminently successful and at the end of 
about two weeks Mr. Broyles was able to travel. 

I met Dr. Eve several times after the operation and 
when I had told him the name of my father and my 
own situation as an exile, he said to me: “You have 
the fortitude to make a great surgeon. If you will 
stay in Nashville and enter the college I will give you 
a ticket to the lectures free and you can follow the 
steps of your father, and perhaps become an orna¬ 
ment to the profession.” 

I thanked him kindly for the offer and for awhile 
entertained a notion that it might be well for me to 
take advantage of it. Subsequent events drifted me 
into an entirely different channel. 

MY COLLEGE CAREER 

I entered the University of Georgia at the fall ses¬ 
sion of 1867. After much tribulation I succeeded in 
getting into-the Sophomore class. As was said here¬ 
tofore, my war experience had caused me to forget al¬ 
most everything that I had learned or studied before 
I entered the army. I was compelled to stand an ex- 


152 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


animation in the studies and I remember that when my 
good old teacher, Professor Rutherford, began to 
question me, he put down on a paper the following 
equation in algebra: 

X plus I/2 x equals io. 

“Now, he said “find the value of x.” 

I looked at the equation for awhile and then said 
to him: 

“Professor, I don’t-believe I can work that, but if 
you will give me a little time, say thirty days, I will 
make it up for you, so I can go on.” 

Professor Rutherford laughed and said, “All right, 
you will have to take lessons from me out of school 
hours.” 

I studied harder, perhaps, because he passed me 
under the circumstances. I took lessons from him for a 
few weeks and I can remember now that his kindly 
words appealed to me so strongly that I determined 
never to fall behind in his department. 

I may say here that I made one hundred, which was 
the highest mark in the class, in every mathematical 
study that belonged to the course from that time until 
I graduated. Much of this I owe to the dear old 
professor’s teaching and advice. 

I found great difficulty in conforming my ideas to 
those of the class room. I had commanded men and 
mingled in great armies, and when I got into the class 
room the quizzing by the professors and the nervous¬ 
ness shown by the students caused me to under-estimate 
the whole process. It looked so small and so childish 
to me as compared with the great events in which I 
had mingled, that it took some time for me to adjust 
myself to the situation and get into harmony with its 
demands. I led the Sophomore class from the be¬ 
ginning. ! 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


153 


Meantime, I had joined the Phi Kappa Society and 
began to take an interest in the debates. The society 
required a certain number of original compositions to 
be written and read every Saturday at the opening of 
the society. 

My first exercise of this kind was an essay on the 
subject “Burning the Bark off the Green Log.” I 
wish I could quote this, for it seemed to attract con¬ 
siderable attention and a report went out through the 
college concerning it. But the original has been lost 
and I preserved no copy. 

In this society at that time there were many young 
men who afterwards became celebrated, taking a prom¬ 
inent positions in the State and Nation. Henry W. 
Grady was one of these, Peter W. Meldrim, A. Pratt 
Adams, and others. In the college, too, were a num¬ 
ber of men whose achievements have carried their 
names widely through the country. 

There was a large, sprinkling of students who had 
been soldiers in the late war and others who had taken 
part in all the perils of the time till they were almost 
looked on as soldiers. 

There was something like a Ku Klux organization 
also, probably taking in some of the citizens of the 
town. In connection with this organization, a circum¬ 
stance occurred in the college which had a wide bear¬ 
ing on many subsequent events in which- I was con¬ 
cerned. 

Our old war governor, Joseph E. Brown, had, in 
the beginning of the fearful days that ushered in the 
Reconstruction period, apparently gone over to the 
side of the “Carpet Bagger” and had taken a hand, as 
it appeared afterwards, in trying to adjust affairs 
throughout the State, for the purpose of getting con¬ 
trol of matters and saving the country from the re¬ 
sults of the Reconstruction campaigns. 


154 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


His course had created a bitter feeling against him 
among the ultra-Southern citizens and the consequence 
was that he was denounced from a great number of 
platforms and held up to the scorn and derision of the 
loyal people of the State. The hatred for Governor 
Brown became so great that the mention of his name 
in a Southern audience would arouse a feeling of re¬ 
sentment that could not he controlled. 

Governor Brown’s oldest son, Julius L. Brown, was 
a member of the Senior class at this time. He was a 
fine student, holding a position among the first in his 
class. He was very pious, prayed in public, worked 
in the Sunday school, and led our prayer meetings in¬ 
side the college campus. He showed an excellent spirit 
in all his association with the students of the school. 

When his father’s unpopularity had reached its high¬ 
est point this band of students and outside citizens de¬ 
termined to drive him out of the college. His room 
was on the campus and they appointed a night in 
which they proposed to kidnap him, flog him, and carry 
him beyond the limits of the county, threatening him 
with dire punishment if he ever came back. The word 
reached me and I went down to his room on the night 
that the event was to occur. When the masked de¬ 
tachment came near the door I went down from off 
the steps and called a halt to the approaching crowd. 
They stopped and the leader said: “What does this 
mean ?” 

Then I declared myself and said: “You cannot 
come any further without going over my body. I am 
here to defend Mr. Brown and I intend to do so at 
all hazards.” Then I added, “Boys, you know me. I 
have heard the bullets whistle around my head many a 
day and I mean what I say. You cannot touch this 
young man without first killing me.” 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


155 


They tried to reason with me, but I told them it 
was no use, that I was determined and their purpose 
must be given up. After a few more words the crowd 
left. I was then supposed to be leading my class, in 
which were a number of Confederate soldiers and I 
think the crowd respected me more than I deserved. 

Mr. Brown heard the whole conversation. He was 
sitting in his room with a large army revolver in his 
hands and he had declared that he would die in his 
tracks before they should drive him out of the school. 
This was the last of the efforts made against him and 
he graduated with distinction. 

It is needless for me to say that this action on my 
part made for me a strong friend out of Julius Brown. 
I loved him very sincerely, and we corresponded for 
many years after he left college. Even in his latter 
days he never met me without putting his arms around 
my shoulder and telling me how much he loved me. 

The incident doubtless had its effect on his conduct 
in after years. His father had become Senator Brown 
at the time of his death and had successfully explained 
his apparent leanings to the parties figuring in the 
Reconstruction time. He left a large estate, reach¬ 
ing beyond the million dollars and Julius was ap¬ 
pointed one of the executors. A misunderstanding 
arose between him and the other members of the fam¬ 
ily, not including his brother Joe, and when Julius 
died, before any reconciliation had taken place, it was 
found that he had left two-thirds of his property to 
the Georgia School of Technology in Atlanta, stating 
in the preamble that he believed it was doing more 
good for the country than all the other schools and 
colleges in Georgia together. I sometimes think he 
would never have done this but that he remembered 
our companionship and that which grew out of it at 
the old University. 


156 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


There were two secret clubs or fraternities at the 
University when I entered. One of these, the Chi 
Phis, soon asked me to join, and I was initiated in 
due and regular form. 

Before the year had expired, Mr. Stephens wrote 
me that owing to some heavy expenses that had come 
upon him he would not be able to furnish the money 
for my going any further in the institution. This, of 
course, left me high and dry, as I didn’t have money 
enough to pay my fare home, much less to meet board 
expenses in the college. The institution had relieved 
me from the payment of tuition, but the board was a 
fixed charge and could not be avoided. I had taken 
up quarters with a Mrs. Moore, who kept a boarding 
house in what was known as “New College.” I oc¬ 
cupied a room here on the second floor and the son of 
the landlady roomed with me. 

When I received word from Mr. Stephens that he 
would not continue the payments I prepared to leave 
the University after commencement. My mother still 
resided at the farm on Pine Log and I intended to 
walk home as I had no means of paying the railroad 
fare. Meantime someone in the college told General 
Howell Cobb, former Governor and Secretary of the 
Treasury, my situation and intentions. He was living 
then in Athens and was looked upon as one of the 
great men of Georgia. He was a trustee of the in¬ 
stitution. He sent a messenger asking me to call and 
see him, which I promptly did. After he had heard 
my story he said to me: “You shall not give up your 
college course. Come on back for the next session 
and I will do for you what Mr. Stephens had agreed 
to do.” 

I could never describe the sensation that came over 
me when he made this offer. I had thought my career 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


157 


had come to an end and that I must go back to the 
farm and to the support of the mother and children. 

Gen. Cobb did not stop with this proposition. He 
found out that I was intending to walk home to Bar¬ 
tow, and one night sometime afterwards, as I was sit¬ 
ting in the room at the “New College” there was a 
knock on the door. The room was dark as I was about 
to give it up and we had no electric lights then. I 
opened the door and told the visitor to come in. He 
did so, and stretching out his hand in the gloom of 
the place, caught mine to shake it and in shaking he 
left thirty-two dollars in my hand. He turned and 
immediately went from the room and was down stairs 
before I had ascertained what he had done. I learned 
afterwards that Gen. Cobb and some of the other cit¬ 
izens of Athens had made up the money to enable me 
to go home on the train. I left the next day for Bar¬ 
tow County. 

A short while after reaching home, through some 
arrangement made, as I recall, between myself and 
my Uncle Wesley Harris, I agreed to go back to East 
Tennessee, in order to attend to some matters con¬ 
cerning the sale of my uncle’s home to a Mr. Garber. 
I came back through Asheville on the journey home 
and stopped in a store to purchase some necessaries 
for the remainder of the trip. 

I happened to mention to the store keeper that I 
was on my way to Georgia, where I had been at¬ 
tending the University. He immediately said to me: 
“I have a nephew in the University.” I asked his name 
he told me it was George Summey. George had come 
to see him in the vacation and had told him that he, 
George, was trying to make the first mark in the 
class, but had fallen behind. He added that “a fellow 
from Tennessee, named Harris, was leading the class.” 


158 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


This was the first word I got from the college and 
the first time I knew that I was really leading the 
class, at the end of the session. It came to me on m) 
journey back to Georgia in Asheville, North Carolina. 
My heart felt better all the way after this, for though 
I had studied hard, and my marks were very high, 
yet having entered “with conditions” I was afraid I 
might have fallen behind. 

George Summey did not graduate, but went to a 
Presbyterian university, where he took a high stand and 
became a distinguished minister of that church and 
a teacher in its educational system. 

I came back to Georgia and stayed with my mother 
until very near to the opening of the next term. Then 
an event occurred, which left me again hanging in the 
air. Notice went throughout the country that Gen. 
Howell Cobb had died suddenly in New York on Oc¬ 
tober 9th, 1868. The University authorities called 
us all together to attend the funeral and I found my¬ 
self again without help in the effort I was making to 
get an education. 

The Phi Kappa Society and the Chi Phi Fraternity 
both came to my aid and enough money was made up 
to pay the $15.00 per month for board due to Mrs. 
Moore, and in this way I was able to go on. Mean¬ 
time, Major Barnwell, the Librarian, who had been 
a Confederate soldier and had come from South Car¬ 
olina to Georgia, offered me the job of cataloging the 
books in the library. From these three sources I man¬ 
aged to raise a sufficient amount of money to continue 
in the University to the end of the term. Meantime, 
as I was afterwards informed, Henry W. Grady and 
Peter W. Meldrim, my club mates in the Senior class, 
of the year before, made a visit to Crawfordville and 
conferred with Mr. Stephens about my case. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


159 


The result of this visit was a letter from Mr. Ste¬ 
phens saying that as he had recovered from the pe¬ 
cuniary reverses that had come to him, he was now 
able to spare the money necessary for me to complete 
my college course. From this time to my graduation 
I had no further financial trouble. 

It was a kindness on the part of these club mates 
to take up my cause with Mr. Stephens and aid me in 
this great emergency of my life. Mr. Grady was al¬ 
ways my friend up to his death. Georgia has had few 
men like him. He was the uncrowned king of our 
great commonwealth. Without ever having held a 
public office, he exercised a wider influence on the State 
than any other man living in it during his time. 

Once when an almost fatal sickness had come upon 
me, and a surgical operation was necessary to save 
my life, I called on Dr. Willis Westmoreland, Senior, 
of Atlanta, to operate. He told me himself afterwards 
that, according to the medical books, I had about one 
chance in one hundred to get well. When it became 
known that he was to operate he stated to me that 
Henry W. Grady and Evan P. Howell both came to 
see him and used words like these: 

“Dr. Westmoreland, you must save Nat Harris. 
There is something in Georgia for him to do, and we 
need him here.” The doctor’s good fortune attended 
the operation and my life-was saved. He smiled as he 
told me what these distinguished men had said to him 
and how he expected me to make good. 

In 1915, when I was Governor, there occurred a 
vacancy in the Superior Court bench at Savannah. Sev¬ 
eral lawyers applied for the position, among others, 
Peter W. Meldrim and W. B. Stubbs. I may say here 
that, as the prohibition question entered somewhat into 
the situation, my wife favored the appointment of Mr. 
Stubbs. 


160 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


It soon became known, however, that I was leaning 
towards General Meldim, and a large delegation came 
up from Savannah to urge Mr. Stubbs’ appointment, 
while opposing General Meldrim. After the argument 
had concluded I made this remark to the delegation : 

“Gentlemen, if it had not been for Peter W. Mel¬ 
drim and the help which he gave me in college I would 
never have been here as Governor. Would you think 
that I ought to overlook him under the circumstances, 
when I know he is fully qualified for the position? I 
could not do it, gentlemen, and keep the place I hold 
a day longer.” 

A COMMENCEMENT ORATION 

Under the rules of the institution, the two societies, 
Phi Kappa and Demosthenian, were entitled to elect 
a speaker to represent them at commencement. Such 
speakers had always been elected from the Senior 
class. In my Junior year the Phi Kappa society, un¬ 
expectedly and without any suggestion from me what¬ 
ever, elected me to the place. I had some scruples at 
first about accepting, and one of the Seniors, who ought 
to have had the place, complained to the Society and 
asked that the appointment be revoked. This, how'- 
ever, the Society refused to do. I then conferred with 
the Senior and told him that if he still objected I would 
decline the place. He generously advised me to take - 
it, telling me that he did not blame me for his dis¬ 
appointment but blamed the Society. 

I made the address on one of the nights of the com¬ 
mencement week, and I hope to publish it in connec¬ 
tion with these memoirs some day. The subject was 
“Wait and Hope.” 

In this year there were two young men in the class 
who were destined to influence more or less my career 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


161 


through life. One was A. Sibley Campbell, from Au¬ 
gusta, Georgia, who joined the class at the opening 
of the Junior term. He was a bright scholar, rather 
red-headed and shared the first honor with me, deliv¬ 
ering the Valedictory to the class. The other was 
Walter B. Hill, who had joined the class at the spring 
term of 1868, entering Sophomore half advanced. Both 
these boys attracted me very much. Both were much 
younger than I was and both took an advanced posi¬ 
tion in the class immediately on entering. 

When Walter Hill came to the University to enter 
the Sophomore class his father and mother came with 
him. They stopped at the boarding house in the col¬ 
lege where I was rooming and I met them first at the 
table. There was something about the son’s face that 
attracted me. I felt the same “hunch” that I have 
spoken of in one or two places in these memoirs. I 
called it a strange weird influence that came over me, 
as if the future was throwing some kind of a spell 
about me. 

I soon became acquainted with all three—the father, 
mother and son. Walter showed me the natural def¬ 
erence that a young student would show to an older 
one, especially as the older one was apparently lead¬ 
ing the class. His father, also, showed some appar¬ 
ent desire to have me cultivate the acquaintance of his 
boy. I have always said that I fell in love with Wal¬ 
ter Hill the first moment that I saw him and that love 
never passed, but lasted as long as he lived. 

I soon had our secret society invite Walter Hill to 
become a member, which he did. Walter Hill began 
to influence the college. He was far beyond in men¬ 
tal development the average of the class and soon came 
to be looked on as one of the brightest in its ranks. 

Sibley Campbell was also made a member of the 


162 


AUTOBIOGRAPH, Y 


Chi Phi and went to the front in the class. Walter 
Hill took third honor when we graduated. 

The entrance of Sibley Campbell into the class ex¬ 
ercised a considerable influence on my future. From 
the beginning he exhibited a wonderful talent in hand¬ 
ling the Latin and Greek languages. He seemed to 
be thoroughly efficient in these studies. He had en¬ 
tered the college under the auspices of Prof. William 
Henry Waddell, who had these two departments under 
his charge, and the marks in these studies had*a large 
influence on the general standing in the class. He. 
aroused a deep interest in Prof. Waddell, that con¬ 
tinued from his first recitation to the end of his course, 
and it soon became apparent that he would have to 
be reckoned with in the award of honors. 

I have always felt that it was a fortunate circum¬ 
stance for me that Prof. Waddell took it into his head 
to get married during this Junior year. He had wooed 
and won a beautiful widow, who lived in Marietta, 
Georgia, and he obtained leave of absence from the 
institution, to make his honeymoon include a visit of 
Enrope. While he was absent, the Greek Department, 
in which I had gone down and Sibley Campbell had 
gone forward, was put in charge of Dr. Morris. The 
result was that I made one hundred in all my marks 
in these departments while Prof. Waddell was away. 
I think I got more encouragement from Dr. Morris. 
This gave me such a standing in the class that I could 
not entirely lose the lead. 

When Prof. Waddell returned the student body of 
the college selected me to make the address of wel¬ 
come. We had a great celebration and the entire col¬ 
lege, with a considerable number of citizens outside, 
met in front of the chapel and a formal welcome was 
tendered to the returning professor. I am sorry I 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


163 


do not recall this address. I remember only one or 
two sentences. I said as we stood face to face before 
the great student body: 

“We meet you, Professor, on your return to us with 
the best wishes for your happiness that can possibly 
be conceived. We trust that your life, and that of 
the beautiful lady who has taken your name, will flow 
on in the future like the River Pactolus, over golden 
sands. And we welcome your return with no lack of 
unanimity and with a sincerity that can never be 
doubted.” 

I have sometimes thought that my earnest words, 
strange as it may seem, were due largely to the feel¬ 
ing that some of the boys had suggested, that is, that 
my continued standing in the class depended more on 
him than on any other Professor. 

His wife became one of my best friends and I look 
back on my association with her with the sweetest and 
tenderest recollections. She was a splendid lady and 
loved to show the students her interest in them and 
her wish for their welfare. 

It is wonderful how much influence a good woman’s 
advice may have on a student in the early part of his 
career. Colonel William LeRoy Broun, who taught 
the Physics Department, invited me to stay awhile in 
his home in the latter part of my college course. Here 
I met Mrs. Broun, who was a woman of very great 
intelligence and who, if she had lived in these latter 
years, would have shown herself worthy of taking the 
front in all movements of her sex. 

Like a college boy, I had fallen in love with two 
or three young ladies residing in the city, and I made 
Mrs. Broun my confidante. I imagined my attachment 
to some of my sweethearts would last for life, but Mrs. 
Broun completely upset all my calculations. She told 


164 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


me plainly that I had no business thinking about get¬ 
ting married until I had made something to support 
the woman who was willing to share my life. She 
painted the horrors of poverty in the household of a 
young man who was just starting out to make some¬ 
thing of himself in the world. She showed me how 
cruel such a marriage would be to the young lady her¬ 
self, and made me feel that the wrong would be in¬ 
calculable and unending, if I should persuade a fine 
young woman to share a life of toil and penury, as 
mine was destined to be. She knew I had a mother to 
support and a number of brothers and sisters to edu¬ 
cate and she gave me such advice concerning my duties 
that the effect of the same has never passed from my 
heart. 

ATHLETICS 

The great craze for athletics was just beginning 
when I was in college. 

In my Sophomore year I was elected President of 
“the Champion Baseball Club,” so called. This club 
practiced on the University grounds and became quite 
expert in the game. The main club, however, was pat¬ 
ronized mostly by the Seniors and was known as the 
“Dixie Club.” The boys in this club became so ex¬ 
pert that they challenged the clubs of various institu¬ 
tions in the State and began to go around playing 
championship games for the State. 

The first nine of my club was induced to stand up 
against the first nine Dixie on the University grounds 
once, but the result was a complete overthrow of our 
club’s nine. 

The first nine Dixie played at various places. I rec¬ 
ollect that it went to Watkinsville and played against 
the club there, called the “Pop and Go” Club. It beat 
the Watkinsville club, in fact, I do not now recall any 
game where the first nine Dixie was ever defeated. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


165 


THE SOCIETIES 

Our debating societies kept up a very warm interest 
in the student body. Under the college rules every 
student was required to join one or the other of these 
societies and there was a diligent effort on the part of 
the young men to make something of the advantages 
offered them by the debates and other exercises. 

I was elected President of the Phi Kappa Society 
several times and at every inauguration would deliver 
an address on some subject appropriate to the occa¬ 
sion. 

I have been sorry to know that these societies have 
since my time gone down in attendance and become of 
smaller moment in the eyes of the student body. I look 
back on my connection with their debates and other 
exercises with almost as much gratitude and appre¬ 
ciation as I do upon the regular exercises of the in¬ 
stitution. I once heard Mr. Samuel M. Inman say 
that he had made a mistake in sending his son to Prince¬ 
ton instead of the University of Georgia for he wanted 
him to become a good speaker and he found out that 
very slight attention was paid to such matters in 
Princeton University. He had watched the boys that 
had come from our University and recognized in them 
a facility for speaking that was absent from the grad¬ 
uates in his own Alma Mater, the great Princeton Uni¬ 
versity. 

In my long connection with the Board of Trustees 
of the University of Georgia, I have steadily fought 
to continue in the minds of the student body of the in¬ 
stitution the importance of these societies. I put into 
the Code of the State the enactment touching these 
societies, fondly hoping that in this way I might stop 
the steady decline in interest, which threatened to leave 


166 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


out almost entirely the work of these societies from 
the student body. The course in our colleges has be¬ 
come more a business matter than otherwise and it 
has been forgotten, apparently, that even a business 
man or a technically educated man finds that a training, 
which enables him to speak in public on his feet, is no 
mean accomplishment in the struggle for success. 

MY GRADUATION 

And so I came to my graduation at last. I was 
selected to deliver the Valedictory to the Trustees, fac¬ 
ulty and audience, and the great old Chancellor, Dr. 
Lipscomb, delivered the diploma to me with the an¬ 
cient formula: “Hoc tibi diploma,” etc. 

I also received a diploma from the debating society, 
which was awarded with alumni present and one of 
them presiding. This diploma was a certificate of effi¬ 
ciency in the Phi Kappa Society. 

I have mentioned Dr. Lipscomb’s name as the Chan¬ 
cellor. He was a man of wonderful endowments, of 
world-wide reputation, and his influence on the student 
body at that time was unparalleled in the history of the 
college. 

I counted him a great man; worthy to live in history 
with the greatest intellects of his age, in educational 
affairs. No man left any deeper impression upon the 
student body, who came in contact with him, and his 
teachings were always on the side of morality and the 
general uplift of the race. 

I would be sorry to pass over in this short record 
of my college life the name of Prof. Morris. A man 
profoundly educated, a deep thinker, and yet possess¬ 
ing a heart that sympathized with suffering and sorrow. 
His energies were devoted to causing his students to 
understand the height, depth and breadth of all that 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


167 


he taught them. He tried to make his teachings reach 
further, perhaps, than any other professor in the school. 
I wish to lay this humble tribute on his tomb. 

All the professors were kind to me, and when Judge 
Linton Stephens, of Sparta, forwarded a request to 
the Chancellor and Faculty, asking them to send him a 
teacher for his daughters, the Faculty, at the sugges¬ 
tion of Prof. Waddell, unanimously selected me to fill 
the position. The pay was one thousand dollars per 
annum, and it was stated that the young ladies had al¬ 
ready received a very considerable training in French 
and Latin as well as in higher mathematics. It was 
said, therefore, that the man who was sent should be 
well grounded in all these studies. I accepted the po¬ 
sition and forthwith set about to increase my educa¬ 
tion in French. I arranged with Prof. Charbonnier to 
take private lessons and spent three months after com¬ 
mencement in polishing up myself in this branch of 
learning. 

I seemed to have made some reputation with the 
people of Athens outside the college, for when I was 
graduated the citizens and many of the students sere¬ 
naded me at the hotel and called on me for a speech. 

I refused to go out to speak to them, though they 
shouted my name until they were hoarse, and here I 
commenced to take the first road to deserved obscurity. 
I am tempted to write here that I made an ass of 
myself. 


EPISODES 

Two or three things occurred in my Senior year that 
ought to he noticed. My room mate and class mate, 
Eugene Hawkins, ran off and married Miss Mary Ann 
McCleskey about three months before our graduation. 
In this way he lost his degree. 


168 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


The young lady was engaged to marry George Ban¬ 
croft, a great friend of mine who had taken the first 
honor in the Senior Class that was in college when I 
entered. He had asked me to become one of his at¬ 
tendants and I had consented, as I was very much at¬ 
tached to him and was .a great admirer of Miss Mary 
Ann, his proposed wife. She was a favorite in college 
and I should say very nearly half the student body was 
in love with her. My agreement to stand up with 
George Bancroft caused me a good deal of distress, 
for I knew I would be expected to purchase a wedding 
present and I didn’t have twenty-five cents towards 
paying for one and my credit, even if I had desired to 
use it, was not very extensive. 

My room-mate, Eugene Hawkins, saved me from 
the mortification that was coming on me and solved 
the problem in short order by running away with the 
young lady. 

When I saw George Bancroft the day after it be¬ 
came known that his sweetheart had left him, I think 
he was the most woe-begone individual whom I have 
ever looked in the face. He stood on the hearth in 
front of the fire-place and held his hand on his fore¬ 
head breathing heavily and groaning with every other 
breath. I suppose he recovered, but he did not live 
long after the event. 

The marriage proved to be a happy one, and Eugene 
raised a large family of girls and boys, who, as far as 
I know, have done well in the world. 

Eugene, my class mate, has crossed over into the un¬ 
known long since. He was a lawyer of distinction and 
was eminently successful in his day and generation. 
This is one run-away match that turned out well. 

A little incident occurred in my Junior year that I 
have never told to anyone so far as my part was con¬ 
cerned. A young man came to the school who looked 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


169 


like a boy from the country, with very little experience 
and considerable ignorance of college ways. He was 
a fit subject, it was supposed, for hazing. There was 
a society that looked after such things, having its 
headquarters in my boarding house and often-times 
laying its plans for sport in my presence. I was never 
a member of it, but only looked on now and then. It 
was arranged to initiate the young man into a secret 
society and when the initiation was through to set 
about making fun out of him. He was older than the 
majority of the students and when I looked in his face 
I began to sympathize with him. He boarded in our 
dormitory and while he sat at table on the evening for 
which the sport was arranged I wrote on a small slip 
of paper these words: “Look out, there’s a green on 
hand tonight.” 

I dropped this piece of paper with these words in 
his plate as I passed behind his chair going to my room. 
It was not long afterwards that the committee called 
on him and the advantages of the society into which 
he was to be initiated were set forth in glowing terms. 
He assented and accompanied the committee to the 
room where the initiation took place. After the cere¬ 
mony, which of course was purely fictitious and com¬ 
bined a good deal of foolishness in it, he was called 
on to address the meeting. He did so in some such 
words as these: 

“Gentlemen, this is to me a remarkable exhibition. 
I do not mind saying to you that I have seen the Co¬ 
manche Indians on their native grounds; I have been 
in the dens of vice and wickedness in the great cities; 
I have even visited the lunatic asylum in my life, but 
I say to you that of all the damned fools I have ever 
met with since I was born, this society of yours beats 
them all. Gentlemen, I bid you good-night.” And he 
took his hat and left. 


170 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


I am glad to say my sympathy was not misplaced. 
I never mentioned the circumstance to him afterwards, 
nor he to me. He graduated with distinction, went to 
Texas, entered into politics there and the last I heard 
of him he was serving the Nation in Congress. 

It is needless to say that after this event he showed 
a strong attachment towards me and I had few better 
friends in college. 

The students of the University published a paper 
called The Collegian. I was elected editor of the 
paper and served some time as such in my Senior 
year. I was succeeded in this office by my room-mate, 
J. Burgess Smith, from Atlanta. He had a decided 
turn for poetry and could quote from Poe’s Annabel 
Lee by the half hour, going over the same thing again 
and again. He also wrote poetry. 

One day while he was editing the paper he came to 
me and said that he wanted some verses written by me 
for the next issue and that I must oblige him in this. 
He had seen some of my lucubrations, though they 
were never acknowledged to the outside world. I 
sat down in his presence and wrote the following 
verses, finishing them within about twenty-five min¬ 
utes after he had called on me: 

THE MAID OF THE WATAUGA 

And she was fair, With glossy hair, 

And eyes of midnight shade, 

And round her brow, Of sculptured snow, 

A heavenly lustre played. 

O’er tangled wild, While yet a child, 

She loved long days to roam, 

Beside the stream, Where cascades gleam 
And tortured billows foam. 

Deep in the glade, The dark-eyed maid 
Her simple griefs confessed, 

Till in some dell, The wild-woods spell 
Would charm her soul to rest. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


171 


In flowery spots, In summer grots, 

She often sat reclined, 

Or gathered shells, Adown the dells 
Her childish brows to bind. 

A thing of light, A forest sprite, 

A bard’s Egeria fair, 

The maiden grew, too good to know 
One pang of grief or care. 

At length there came Across her dream 

A ray of wintry gloom 

The spell of life—With weary strife— 

Love broke—itself the doom. 

A fair haired boy, With careless joy, 

Pursued the hunter’s sport, 

And on the wild beheld the child, 

And won the guileless heart. 

* * * * * 

Athens, July, 1870. 

The subject was Miss Hattie Jobe, daughter of Dr. 
A. Jobe, of Elizabethton, Tenn. I had seen her but 
one time, when she came down to visit the girls at 
Hon. N. G. Taylor’s. She came on horse-back and her 
face caught my fancy, though she did not alight from 
the horse. 

It may be worthy of note to state that she became 
my second wife. I leave off the las^verse, as it was 
only a prophecy and not the truth. 

My room mate stood by and saw me writing and 
told me afterwards that up to that time he had be¬ 
lieved himself a poet, but when he saw that I could 
write verses as fast as this task was done he changed 
his mind. Nevertheless, he still writes good verses. 

It is but right to say that the ladies of Athens were 
especially kind and agreeable to students of the Uni¬ 
versity. There were many beautiful girls in the city, 
all of whom seemed to delight in entertaining the young 
men and trying to make them have a good time while 
they were away from their homes. Many of these 


172 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


ladies were what were called “College Widows.” 
They had been courted many times by the young men, 
and whether accepted or not the young men went off 
home and, in the midst of other scenes and with other 
faces around them, forgot their college friends. 

A lady became accustomed to having a boy talk love 
to her. It was the best way to interest her and with¬ 
out it the boy often seemed dull and repulsive. So 
the young men got into the habit of saying soft things 
to the young ladies. Sometimes, however, it took a 
more serious turn and the association led to marriage. 

The students were advised to go into the society of 
the young ladies, as much as possible, without inter¬ 
fering with their studies in the class room. Many of 
them were from the country and they were told that 
such an association would banish awkwardness and 
give them better manners and better ideas of social 
life when they entered on their work back home. 

GOING TO SPARTA 

When my study with Colonel 'Charbonnier was 
finished, I went to Sparta and began the work which 
I had agreed to undertake; that is, the teaching of the 
three daughters, Rebecca, Claud and Emm, of Judge 
Linton Stephens. 

I may say here that Hon. Alexander Stephens cor¬ 
responded with me during all my college course. I 
kept all his letters, carefully filing them away. He 
gave me a great deal of advice; seemed to sympathize 
with me in my effort to conquer the difficulties before ^ 
me, and in every way showed himself a true friend and 
safe counselor. And right here I want to make a gen- . 
eral statement: I have kept every letter that ever 
came to me and I have filed copies of every written 
speech or address that I have ever delivered. It has 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


173 


been my habit in my career never to destroy any com¬ 
munication from friend or foe. And since I am speak¬ 
ing on the personal side, I may add further: When I 
left home for the war my mother made me kneel at 
her lap and while her hand rested on my head promise 
her three things: 

First—that I would not swear. 

Second—that I would not drink liquor. 

Third—that I would not play cards. 

It was easy to keep the first two promises, but the 
third was hard to abide, for the playing of cards was 
the common occupation of the soldiery through the 
whole war. 

But I have kept this pledge and I have added some 
others to it. I have never smoked a pipe or cigar or 
taken a chew of tobacco and my life has been clean in 
the usual personal sense. 

My father, when he died, left a legacy of debts that 
my brother, Joe, and I were compelled to struggle 
with. Most of these were settled out of funds that I 
earned in the work that I am now about to describe. 

I made a pledge that I would never create a debt 
by borrowing money, by using the credit of others, or 
by buying property for which I did not have the money 
to pay. 

I have never knowingly allowed a bill that was due 
to come into my office or my house and go out without 
being paid. 

So much for my own personal conduct. It is not said 
in a spirit of braggadocio, but is merely a recital of 
facts. I have been told often times that I have lost 
more than I made by following this program of life. 

ASSOCIATION WITH MR. STEPHENS 

After my Sophomore year I was accustomed to 
spend all my vacations with Mr. Stephens at his home 


174 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


in Crawfordville. Besides this, whenever possible, I 
ran down to see him so as to meet his friends and 
talk with him in a friendly way. He introduced me to 
a large number of distinguished men, who were con¬ 
stantly visiting him. These came from all parts of 
the South. 

But there was one man who made a deeper impres¬ 
sion on me than any of the rest of his friends. General 
Robert Toombs was a constant visitor and it was my 
privilege to see and talk with him again and again 
when only he and Mr. Stephens were present. Both 
of them made an audience out of me and would tell 
me of things great as well as things small that had 
occurred in their lives. They disputed with each other 
but were like David and Jonathan, there never was 
a moment’s bitterness between them, only gentleness 
and affection in their conduct towards each other. I 
do not mean by this that they did not grow warm in 
their controversies, but in the midst of it all some bril¬ 
liant thought, some humorous idea, some quick flash of 
wit from General Toombs would set us all laughing 
and banish, in a moment, the slightest offense. He 
has kept me laughing in this way at the dining table 
sometimes until I have almost lost control of myself 
and had to leave my seat. I have never seen any man 
in all my life whose wit was so brilliant and whose re* 
plies were so ready and well spoken. 

Many times I have thought that if I could have 
written down the conversations between these men and 
published them my fortune would have been made. 
Boswell would have lived in two Dr. Johnsons, instead 
of one. I may say here that the friendship between 
these two men continued until death put an end to it. 

The fact that I had been a member of the house¬ 
hold at the time of the visits of General Toombs 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


.175 


seemed to beget in him toward me a kindly feeling so 
that he showed me more courtesy, whenever I met him, 
than he did to the common run of his acquaintances. 
He was always kind to me as long as he lived. 

COMMENCING TO TEACH SCHOOL 

I reached Sparta, Georgia, where Judge Linton Ste¬ 
phens lived about the first of November, 1870 . My 
first business was, of course, to call on Judge Stephens, 
telling him that I had come to enter on the work that 
I had engaged to do; namely the teaching of his daugh¬ 
ters. I stayed at his house several nights, during which 
time he took great pains in giving me a full outline of 
the teaching he desired me to do, at the same time 
laying down certain rules for the same. I found that 
he desired to have me take into the school, in addi¬ 
tion to his three daughters, two others who were rel¬ 
atives of his children. These were Miss Julia Baker, 
aged about sixteen, and Lindsey Baker, about four¬ 
teen. Miss Rebecca Stephens, I found, was about 
eighteen years of age, her sister, Claud, sixteen, and 
Emm, just fourteen. The Stephens children had lost 
their mother several years previously, and Judge Ste¬ 
phens had married a second wife, by whom he then 
had three children. The Baker children resided in 
the town, the father having charge of a merchandise 
business there. 

The little school house was nearly half a mile dis¬ 
tant from the home of Judge Stephens and was a single 
room house where the girls were to meet, bringing 
their dinner and staying all day with the teacher. 

I soon found that the Stephens girls were decidedly 
beyond the average in their educational acquirements. 
The teacher who preceded me, a Mr. Stevens, (no 
relation) was well educated and had given the girls 





ALEXANDER H. STEPHENS AND HIS BROTHER, LINTON 

When this picture was taken Mr. Stephens was Vice-President of the 
Confederate States, and his brother, Linton, was Lieutenant-Colonel of 
the 15th Georgia Regiment Infantry. He left this regiment to enter the 

Confederate Congress. 





AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


177 


a splendid training in Latin, in French and in higher 
mathematics. It stretched me to the utmost of my 
ability to take up their education at the point where 
he left oft and continue it on the same high plane. 

I found I could keep up very well in the mathematics 
and Latin, but the French presented almost insuperable 
difficulties. My training in that language had been 
given me by a native Frenchman, Prof. Charbonnier, 
of the University, but it had not extended far enough 
to meet the demands of the situation. I fortunately 
came up with a native Frenchman in the town, who 
met me at night and went over the lessons with me, 
aiding me in translation and pronunciation so that I 
made a reasonable showing with the young girls. But 
I studied harder than I had ever done in my life be¬ 
fore. 

I do not know that the young ladies ever realized how 
hard put to it I was to keep up with the routine of 
our work, especially in French. The Baker children 
did not cause me as much trouble. They had not gone as 
high as their cousins, Rebecca and Claud, so that I was 
able to teach them without much difficulty. I ob- 
rained board with Col. C. W. DuBose in the town, as 
I could not get a room at the home of Judge Ste¬ 
phens. Col. DuBose was a practicing lawyer. He had 
been Clerk of the Supreme Court for some time before 
and was doing a large practice at the bar. His wife, 
Mrs. Kate A. DuBose, was decidedly literary, having 
written and published several books, making consid¬ 
erable contributions to our Southern literature. She 
came of a literary family, her maiden name being 
Richards. She was a sister of William C. Richards, 
an editor and writer, and also of T. Adison Richards, 
poet and artist in New York. Mrs. DuBose’s name 
and a sketch of her life appear in the first volume of 
“Southland Writers,” page 411. 


178 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


At the time I boarded there, her two sons resided 
in the home, Miller DuBose and Willie DuBose. Miller 
was in my class at college and was preparing to study 
law, with a view to trying to follow in his father’s 
footsteps. An older son, Charlie DuBose, was also 
in college with me in one of the classes ahead of me. 
He had been admitted to the bar and was practicing 
at Warrenton, Georgia. 

Willie DuBose, the youngest son, was a very fine 
and attractive young boy. He afterwards graduated 
at the University of Georgia and then studied medicine 
and joined the navy, becoming a distinguished surgeon, 
spending a large part of his life in that service. 

Miller and I got on well in our association and soon 
tried to put our heads together in obtaining and pub¬ 
lishing a newspaper. We took in as a partner a gentle¬ 
man named Brown, who was a practical printer, and 
the firm was known as Harris, DuBose & Brown. The 
paper we founded was The Hancock Sentinel. For 
this paper I did the main editorial work, Miller kept 
up with the locals and occasionally wrote an article 
for the editorial page, while Brown managed the me¬ 
chanical side of it and attended to getting the paper 
to press, mailing it and distributing it. 

I had been teaching some time, however, before en¬ 
tering upon this venture. 

In December, 1870, the State elections came on. 
Three days were allotted to the election. This 
was done by the Reconstruction Legislature to insure 
a full vote of the negroes. The authorities who were 
then in power in the State believed that if three days 
were allowed for elections the white people could not 
prevent the negroes from coming out and voting, so 
that a full negro vote would be secured, in which event 
it was felt that the State government would continue 
under their control. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


179 


When I first went to Sparta I had joined what was 
called the “Minute Men” at that place. We had form¬ 
ed a company and armed ourselves generally with Mis¬ 
sissippi rifles or some other efficient weapon. When 
the election morning opened it was agreed betwen the 
white Republicans and the Democrats that the voters 
should come in two at a time, one white man and one 
negro, and in that way insure the vote of both sides. 
This arrangement was followed, I should say, until 
about eleven o’clock of the first day. 

Such an agreement did not prevent the challenge of 
negro votes for incompetency or illegality. The Leg¬ 
islature had attempted to relieve the negroes from the 
payment of poll taxes so that they could vote without 
meeting this requisite of the Constitution. Judge Lin¬ 
ton Stephens, and in fact all the lawyers in Sparta, be¬ 
lieved that the effort to relieve the negro was illegal 
and unconstitutional, and Judge Stephens determined 
to bring the matter to a test. 

There were five election commissioners whose duty 
it was to receive the votes. Joseph Gonder, an uncle of 
Judge Stephens, was the Republican Commissioner and 
Chairman, together with two others of the same party, 
whose names I have forgotten. 

For the purpose of bringing on the test Judge Ste¬ 
phens had a negro voter challenged on the ground that 
he had not paid his taxes and was otherwise incompe¬ 
tent to vote. This challenge was promptly over-ruled 
by the majority of the commissioners, whereupon 
Judge Stephens sued out a warrant and had the Chair¬ 
man with the two Commissioners arrested. This ac¬ 
tion brought on an emute. The negroes started, as 
it was thought, to rescue the prisoners, and the white 
men of the city rushed forward to prevent it. In a 
moment the call went out for the “Minute Men” and 


180 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


we dashed down to our arsenal, seized our guns, and 
re-appeared on the streets almost in the twinkling of 
an eye. 

We ran ourselves half to death to get back to the 
scene of action, which was only fifty or one hundred 
yards away. When the negroes saw us coming, they 
ran and they did not wait on the order of their going. # 
They rushed out to a village about two miles from the 
town where they congregated to await the result. 
Meantime, a committing magistrate was secured, the 
trial was had and the Commissioners were remanded 
to jail with the privilege of bail. I think Judge Ste¬ 
phens prepared and tendered the bail for his uncle and 
the others, but they refused it, whereupon new Com¬ 
missioners were appointed and the election went on. 

This action was like a bugle note that sounded all 
over Georgia. Before night it was in every daily 
paper and before next day it had been carried to al¬ 
most every county in the State. Preparation was made 
to repeat the action at various places. The negroes 
became a little timid about voting and the Democrats 
were roused from one end of the State to the other 
and the consequence was a speedy change of adminis¬ 
tration in the State. 

Judge Stephens’ part in the matter caused the au¬ 
thorities of the United States to take proceedings 
against him. He was arrested by a United States mar¬ 
shal and carried to Macon where he had a trial be¬ 
fore United States Commissioner Swaze on the charge 
of intimidation and a violation of the Enforcement 
Act. He was bound over to the next term of the Uni¬ 
ted States Court, but the Grand Jury refused to find 
a bill and the case was ended. 

In the meantime I was still teaching the girls and 
boy in the little school house prepared for this purpose. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


181 


There were several aspects connected with this teach¬ 
ing that ought to be mentioned here. Judge Stephens’ 
second wife was a Catholic and Jesuit, educated in the 
Vatican, and her marriage, of course, was allowed un¬ 
der a dispensation of the Church. The Catholics were 
very anxious to convert Judge Stephens to their faith, 
hoping he would join them and bring up his children 
in that faith. For that purpose a gathering of priests 
met at the Stephens home, dined with him and made a 
dead set to convert him. 

He told me in the presence of his wife the particu¬ 
lars of their effort. He said he thought he was better 
acquainted with the history of the country than the 
priests that came to secure his conversion and that he 
met them all with arguments they could not refute 
and with a recital of facts that they could not gainsay. 
The result was that they gave the matter up and de¬ 
cided to let him alone. All this he told me and more. 

When I came to teach the girls I found that a large 
number of the books which they used, especially those 
affecting moral questions and touching on the history 
of the Nation, were written by Catholics. Judge Ste¬ 
phens had said to me privately that it was the earnest 
wish of his wife to have the children join the Catho¬ 
lic Church, but he added, “I’ll be damned if they shall 
do so before they are twenty-one. After that time they 
may have their own way, but not till then.” When I 
mentioned to him that the books they were using were 
written by Catholics, he told me to go on and still use 
them, “but,” said he, “give them the Protestant view 
of every matter, where there is a difference in opinion 
as to doctrine or facts between the advocates of the 
two religions.” 

This, it can easily be understood, put a heavy duty 
on me, but I had the advantage of the father’s wishes 
and the dead mother’s example. 


182 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


The wife of Judge Stephens was one of the most in¬ 
tellectual women that I have ever met. She had a 
keen, sharp, strong mind, was well educated and pos¬ 
sessed to a remarkable degree the power of expression. 
Her conversation was of a high order and her manner 
was generally both attractive and impressive. It was 
no difficult matter, therefore, for her to impress her 
three step-children with an idea of her interest in them 
and sincere desire for them to make a success in life. 

I found that of the children Miss Claud possessed 
the strongest intellect. It was much like her father’s 
without his fierce impetuosity and his intellectual ob¬ 
stinacy. Miss Rebecca possessed more temper than any 
of the children had and seemed more impatient of con¬ 
trol. Miss Emm had more beauty than either of the 
two other children. She was quiet, reserved and al¬ 
ways receptive and easy to teach. 

Miss Julia Baker was the most beautiful of all the 
girls. She was tractable and likewise easy to teach. 
I think she studied less than the others. 

Lindsay Baker was a good boy, but quite mischiev¬ 
ous, and gave me a good deal of trouble in trying to 
keep order in the school; but he was always respectful 
and when interested always came up with a good les¬ 
son. All of these children exhibited unfailing respect 
for Judge Stephens and recognized his word as the 
law of every matter that arose for decision. 

Our afternoons of Friday were set apart for lec¬ 
tures on Grecian and Roman Mythology. These lec¬ 
tures were written by,me during the week and I always 
tried to put something in them that would attract the 
children’s minds. They showed great interest in their 
delivery and seemed to remember them better than 
any other lessons that I taught. I suppose I wrote 
as many as one hundred lectures on Mythology during 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


183 


the time. They were the lucubrations of a young 
man fresh from college and the study of the Classics. 
I filed them away and held on to them through all the 
changes that have occurred since. 

NEWSPAPER BUSINESS 

After Judge Stephens had made his first payment 
(he did not pay by the month, but semi-annually) I 
sent one-half of the amount that I received to he cred¬ 
ited on my note held by Mr. Stephens at Crawfordville 
for school expenses. I then wrote Mr. Stephens tell¬ 
ing him that I desired to use a portion of the remainder 
in the purchase of a newspaper and when I received his 
assent to this, I formed the partnership with DuBose 
and Brown, as hereinbefore stated. 

Mr. Brown purchased the outfit for the newspaper 
and in doing so bought second-hand type that had been 
used in a strong power press, for the publication of a 
daily paper. As we had only a hand press on which 
to print our paper, the result was a very poorly print¬ 
ed sheet, at times illegible and at all times lacking in 
good newspaper style. At an early date after this 
paper was established, I went back to Tennessee and, 
on my return, brought my brother, Joe, down with me, 
giving him the position of pressman in the printing 
office. Ele stayed with the paper as long as it was 
printed as an independent sheet, and when it was sold 
out and merged with the “Times and Planter” he con¬ 
tinued as pressman, running a power press for that 
journal. 

When the newspaper venture was entered on I be¬ 
gan to send to my mother, who had gone back to Ten¬ 
nessee, a monthly stipend, or allowance. This I kept 
up through all the changes that occurred from that 
time until her death in 1893. There was never a break 


184 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


in the regularity with which this money was sent her 
and I have now the consolation of knowing that I aided 
her in taking care of the household; in bringing up her 
children and in saving her widowed heart from break¬ 
ing. My brother Joe had looked after her and had 
run the farm and managed the affairs at home from 
the time I went to college until the time I brought him 
down to Georgia. From his salary as pressman, he 
also aided in taking care of the mother and family. 
I sent all the girls to school, with two exceptions, pay¬ 
ing their expenses when away from home. One grad¬ 
uated at Wesleyan College and the others were trained 
at Jonesboro or elsewhere. So of the boys, two of them 
went to Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. Alex 
educated himself at the Tennessee University in Knox¬ 
ville. 

After the publication of The Sentinel had continued 
for some time I got into a controversy with Rev. B. H. 
Sasnett, who afterwards married my wife’s sister. He 
was connected with the editorial staff of The Times 
and Planter and believed in the old idea, that was prev¬ 
alent in the State before the war, to the effect that 
education was no part of the duty of the Government, 
but should be looked after by the parents or others 
connected with the home. I wrote the editorials on 
this subject for The Sentinel and Mr. Sasnett wrote his 
replies, publishing them in The Times and Planter. 
He was a fine writer, the 'son of a Methodist divine, 
formerly a professor in Emory College, and the author 
of several books and pamphlets. His son took after 
him in the facility with which he could handle the 
King’s English, and also adopted many of his father’s 
theories, especially on education. 

The controversy raged with great fierceness as it 
appeared to the two who were engaged in it. We 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


185 


covered the field and when the controversy was over 
we were both more settled in our own beliefs than 
ever before. I do not know how the public felt, but I 
lived to see the theories I advanced adopted by the 
State, when the public schools were established. 

During this time I wrote many editorials urging 
upon the public the necessity of making a change in the 
methods of farming. I urged that the farmers should 
improve their lands and that to do this there should be 
a constant rotation of crops. I urged the sowing of 
clover or other plants feeding on the atmosphere, 
which could be turned under in the fall and serve to 
tighten and enrich the soil. The entire attention at 
the time seemed to be given over by the farmers to 
the growing of cotton, and I remember warning them 
that if they persisted in this way, using fertilizers only 
to make the crop, that it would not be long before their 
lands would be exhausted and their fields would be 
washed down to the clay and become utterly worth¬ 
less. 

I have lived to see this prophecy or warning prove 
sadly true. Our whole farming population, with a 
few exceptions, continued to devote itself to the rais¬ 
ing of cotton, so that when the boll weevil came and 
the crops completely failed, the whole country be¬ 
came disheartened. The young men leave the farms 
and go into business in some city or town, where they 
can make a living without following the plow. And 
even the negro has been forced out of business by the 
inability of the white employer to continue his cotton 
farming, so that a great exodus of colored people has 
taken place from our State. The farmer now who is 
not possessed of the labor necessary to run his farm, 
within his own family, is completely left behind. 

Meantime, the school progressed and the children 


186 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


went forward with celerity and success in all their 
studies. I could feel by the questions that were con¬ 
tinually asked me, the influence that the step-mother 
was having over their minds so far as religious prin¬ 
ciples were concerned. There was a daily struggle in 
this respect. The home teaching was met by the 
school teaching as far as practicable. I did not hesi¬ 
tate to discuss the situation and to try to impress on 
the minds of the students, whenever these church ques¬ 
tions were touched on in the books we used, that 
there were two sides, the Catholic and Protestant side; 
that our people believed in the Protestant side, that 
the Reformation was a great blessing to the world, and 
that more happiness could be found in trying to help 
one another according to Protestant standards than 
by following the gloomy asceticisms of the other 
church. 

I think* the children might have followed their 
father’s leanings (he believed in the Protestant faith 
and never yielded an inch to the Catholic doctrines) 
but for an event that occurred about the end of the 
second year of the school. 

On July 14th, 1872, which was Sunday, Judge Ste¬ 
phens died very suddenly. The event was totally un¬ 
expected by all his friends and family. He had come 
to be regarded as one of the leading political thinkers 
of the State. He had lent his voice and his pen to 
the upbuilding and rehabilitation of the country fol¬ 
lowing the war. He assailed the Reconstruction meas¬ 
ures, the recent amendments to the Constitution and 
the general policy of the carpet-bag government, with 
all the courage and energy of a fearless mind. 

His death, therefore, caused a profound sensation 
throughout the State. He was the leading man in 
Sparta and settled all the difficulties between his fel- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


187 


low citizens. He was the arbiter in every serious dis¬ 
pute and there were very few, if any, citizens in the 
county who did not regard him as a friend and ad¬ 
viser and well-wisher at all times. Their troubles 
were carried to him, both from the counting room and 
the farm, and his judgments were seldom, if ever, ques¬ 
tioned. He was the peace-maker for his people. 

He' was one of the greatest lawyers that I ever 
knew. He did not make the show at the bar that Gen¬ 
eral Toombs or Mr. Hill made, but when the ques¬ 
tion resolved itself into one requiring profound knowl¬ 
edge of law and deep insight into the motives of men 
and a courageous advocacy of principles, whether pop¬ 
ular or unpopular, he was without an equal in the land. 
His great brother at Crawfordville possessed wider 
views of men and affairs, as his public education extend¬ 
ed further than that of his brother, but in the handling 
of law, Judge Linton Stephens took the lead of his 
gifted and distinguished relative. 

His death occurred at a time when the session of 
the school under my charge was very nearly at an 
end. The vacation would have occurred in about 
two weeks. The death broke up the school complete¬ 
ly. It was disastrous also to the family. It gave the 
step-mother unlimited control. She took advantage of 
it without doubt. Within a comparatively short time 
two of the girls decided to enter a convent. They 
turned over their property to the children by the sec¬ 
ond marriage and went to Canada, there entering the 
Convent of Notre Dame. A large part of this prop¬ 
erty had come to them through their mother, the first 
wife of Judge Stephens, and he had taken care of it 
for them, recognizing their entire ownership in it. It 
was quite extensive, and I suppose would easily have 
supported them through life. 


188 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


I can never express the mortification which I felt 
when I found that all the Protestant teaching which I 
had given them was utterly disregarded and under the 
almost supreme influence of their gifted step-mother 
they surrendered themselves entirely tQ the direction 
of her church. 

Miss Rebecca in a comparatively short time mar¬ 
ried a brother of the step-mother, who came from Bos¬ 
ton to pay his attentions to her and to persuade her 
to become his second wife. She lived only two or 
three years after the marriage. Little Emm survived 
the convent only a short while when she faded out 
and crossed the invisible line. 

Claud continued in Notre Dame and I have heard 
of her from time to time, from persons coming from 
Canada, but I do not know whether she is still alive 
or what events have occurred in'her life. She was a 
splendid woman and deserved to have been a leader in 
thought and a dispenser of happiness, among the peo¬ 
ple of her native state. 

The Baker children continued in the Protestant 
faith. Miss Julia married a gentleman in Augusta and 
made a good wife and happy home. Lindsey Baker 
continued his father’s business and became a success* 
ful merchant in Sparta. 

So much for the children that I had taught for near* 
ly two years at the little school house in Sparta. 

The attachment between Alexander H. Stephens and 
his brother, Linton, was as close as ever existed, I 
think, between two brothers. While they were only 
half brothers, yet they seemed to sustain a closer re¬ 
lationship towards each other than ordinarily exists in 
such cases. 

Linton was educated by his brother, who furnished 
him the money to go through college. He graduated 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 189 

at Athens and then took a degree in the law depart¬ 
ment of the University of Virginia, after which he com¬ 
pleted a course of legal studies at Cambridge, Mass. 
He settled in Hancock, served in the Legislature from 
that county and also in the Senate from the district and 
in 1859 was appointed judge of the Supreme Court 
by the then Governor, Joseph E. Brown. He filled an 
unexpired term on the Supreme Bench and did not 
continue longer in this service. During all this time, 
and in fact almost up to the time of his death, he and 
his brother wrote regularly once a day to each other. 
They had no difference in political opinions, but stood 
together on all the great questions of the times. 

His death wrought a vast change in my prospects. 
I had begun to read law and frequently consulted him 
on the various questions that arose in my mind while 
trying to master the old text books. I had left the 
home of Col. DuBose and had taken a room in the 
Turner Building, in which building The Sentinel was 
published. I furnished a room back of the composing 
room, and here wrote my editorials, prepared the les¬ 
sons and lectures for the children, and read the law 
books set out in the University course. I have often 
said that I laid the foundation of whatever legal suc¬ 
cess I have achieved, in the back room of a printing 
office. 

A short time after the breaking up of the little 
school I was offered a position as teacher in the Sparta 
Academy or High School, conducted by Professor 
Thomas A. Murray, which was a very thriving 
school and well attended at that time. I took charge 
of the department of mathematics in the school, con¬ 
tinuing to teach under Professor Murray for the term, 
meantime keeping up my law studies. 

Professor Murray had served in the Confederate 


190 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


army, in a battery principally made up in LaGrange, 
Georgia. The Captain was Henry H. Carlton, who 
afterwards served in Congress from the Athens Dis¬ 
trict. The company, after the surrender at Appo¬ 
mattox, buried its guns the night following in order 
to prevent them from falling into the hands of the 
Federals. It was one of the~most famous of all the 
Georgia batteries in Lee’s army. 

I was strongly attached to Prof. Murray and when 
I became Governor I made him custodian at the Cap¬ 
itol, putting him in charge of the dome and its sur¬ 
roundings. He has remained there to this day. 

At the term of the Superior Court for Hancock 
County, which came on in October, I applied for ad¬ 
mission to the bar, stood the examination in open 
court and was granted license by Judge Garnett An¬ 
drews who was presiding. Judge Frank L, Little 
coached me in the law and under his supervision and 
direction I applied for the license. My connection with 
the high school kept me only an hour or two every day, 
and, therefore, did not prevent my “hanging out a 
shingle,” opening an office, and commencing to prac¬ 
tice. 

In the fall of this year I made the acquaintance of 
the lady who became my first wife, Miss Fannie T. 
Burke, of Macon. She was a great friend of Dr. Ed¬ 
mund Pendleton and family and came over to visit 
them. Among the diversions I had taken up was the 
playing of croquet with the young ladies of the town. 
We met at regular intervals and always took consid¬ 
erable delight in the sport. 

Miss Fannie, who was the oldest daughter of the 
Reverend John W. Burke, of Macon, was a constant 
attendant at these games. The first characteristic I 
noticed in her was a wonderfully equable temperament. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


191 


I played against her and played with her and found 
out that she never became cross or exhibited the slight¬ 
est ill humor, whether she gained or lost in the game. 

This attracted me, for it was entirely different from 
the conduct of the other young ladies. They resented 
defeat or charged their partner with bad playing when 
a stroke went wrong or there was a failure to score. 
I commenced to visit Miss Fannie at Dr. Pendleton’s 
and soon found out that she was a splendid performer 
on the piano, a fine conversationalist, and an honorary 
graduate of Wesleyan College. 

When I began to make addresses to her and to speak 
the usual nothings that mark the first advance of a 
young man, I had no sensation like that which after¬ 
wards overtook me. Our friendship went through the 
usual course, and day by day the attachment grew 
stronger until my heart began to awake. She was a 
woman of fine judgment with a splendidly educated 
mind, and a heart that responded to every kindly sen¬ 
timent. 

When I first reached the point of making serious 
my association she put me off and left the matter en¬ 
tirely unsettled. When we parted after our few weeks’ 
association she told me she would write me her mind 
when she reached home. She did so and admitted 
a strong friendship for me. I followed it up in visits 
to her home in Macon and was accepted as the fav¬ 
ored suitor for her hand. 

She was a true, noble woman, and our affection for 
each other seemed to grow stronger as the years went 
by. I may say here that in all our married life there 
was never one harsh word used by her to me. She was 
gentle, kindly natured, thoughtful, seriously inclined, 
and abounded in good words and works. To her ex¬ 
ample the success in the raising of our six children 



MRS. FANNIE BURKE HARRIS 
First wife of Governor Harris and mother of his children. 

Died May 3, 1898. 





AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


193 


was undoubtedly due. They inherited no evil tenden¬ 
cies, none of them acquiring bad habits, but joining 
the church at an early date, and all striving to keep 
in view the accomplishments of a Christian character. 
The mother’s example undoubtedly wrought this work 
upon her children. 

Their names in the order of birth are: Carrie,. 
Walter, Nat, Fannie, John and David. All are liv¬ 
ing except Nat, who died December, 1902. They are 
all college graduates. One daughter, Nora, died in 
infancy. 

One rather funny incident happened in connection 
with the courtship and marriage. My old antagonist 
in the common school controversy, Rev. B. H. Sas- 
nett, had courted a younger sister of my fiancee and 
had been engaged to her for some time when she broke 
it off and sent him adrift. He begged me to say some 
good words for him while he was trying to restore 
the relations between him and his former sweetheart. 
He was very deeply in love with her, for she was 
worthy of any man’s attentions. She was exceptionally 
beautiful, quite a belle in the city, splendidly educated, 
and an all-round noble woman. 

I helped him all I could and he was successful. When 
I came to ask Mr. Burke for my wife, Mr. Sasnett 
begged me at the same time to put in a plea for him. 
The family had not favored his suit afore time and 
he thought I might adjust matters for him. I opened 
the conversation with Mr. Burke by telling him that 
I had come to see him on the most important matter 
that had ever occurred in my life and forthwith went 
on with an earnest plea to have him give his second 
daughter to Rev. B. H. Sasnett in marriage. He finally 
agreed to do so, and then I entered a plea for his 
consideration in my own case. 

He used to speak of it in a laughing way, saying 


194 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


that he had prepared himself for answering me, as 
he expected me to ask for his oldest daughter, and 
to his surprise I asked him to give one of his daugh¬ 
ters to another man, and then, he said, I added when 
he had consented, as if it were mere parenthesis: “By 
the way, Mr. Burke, I would like for you to let me 
have Fannie for myself.” 

We were married together, Mr. Sasnett and I, on 
February 12th, 1872. Doctor, afterwards Bishop, 
Joseph S. Key performing the ceremony. 

Following the wedding supper, both couples took the 
train for Sparta where we arrived next day. I secured 
board for myself and bride at the home of Dr. Pierce, 
a prominent merchant and son of Bishop George F. 
Pierce. 

I may say here that I had a hard time making ends 
meet after our marriage. My wife was frugal and 
economical and we lived hard, but I managed to scrape 
up enough money to pay the board. I recollect just 
before my marriage that I did not have money to pay 
for the license. Fortunately for me I got a call to 
defend a colored man before Judge F. L. Little, who 
presided over the County Court at that time. The 
negro, as I recall, was charged with stealing. Colonel 
C. W. DuBose prosecuted him. I had no testimony 
and I made the negro put in his statement. Col. Du¬ 
Bose used to say, afterwards: “I knew that negro was 
guilty from the way his goozle went up and down 
while he was talking on the stand.” 

Anyhow the Judge found him not guilty, and the 
negro paid me thirty dollars for his defense. I used 
to tell Col. DuBose that it was a “ground hog case” 
with me to clear the man for I needed the thirty dol¬ 
lars to pay for the license and the railroad fare to 
get back to the town after my wedding. It was the 
only chance. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


195 


My class-mate and friend, Walter B. Hill, aftei 
studying law at the University had come to Macon 
and formed a partnership with his father, Barnard 
Hill, in the practice. In January, 1873, Mr. Hill, the 
father, was appointed Judge of the Superior Courts 
of the Macon Circuit and this left Walter, his son, 
without a partner. At that time he was engaged in 
revising the Code of the State, which was afterwards 
published as the Code of Erwin, Lester & Hill. I 
communicated with Walter and told him I was anxious 
to come to Macon and he tendered to me a partner¬ 
ship, which I accepted, and on June 1st my wife and 
I left Sparta forever and moved to Macon. 

I remember that before leaving I paid a visit to the 
grave of my benefactor, Judge Linton Stephens. He 
was buried in his own yard under an over-hanging 
tree, and when I got. to the grave, looking up in the 
tree, that bent over him, I saw the Catholic Crucifix. 
It brought back to me all the struggles of the past 
and spoke of the deep devotion of those whom he left 
behind. 


LAW PRACTICE IN MACON 

When I went into practice with Walter Hill I found 
that he and his father had been retained in a large 
number of very important cases. Many of these were 
in the courts outside of Macon and we began at once 
preparation for their trial. Most of the cases were 
on the equity side of the court and many abstruse 
questions arose, which Judge Hill would have known 
how to easily handle. Gen. Thomas R. R. Cobb once 
said of Judge Hill that he was “by all odds the great¬ 
est equity lawyer Georgia had ever produced.” The 
clients, of course, missed his splendid intellectual 
power, but his son and I tried to make up by hard 


196 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


study for his absence and, consequently, we worked 
night and day to master the cases and understand the 
issues involved. Some we settled, but there is no 
record of any that we ever lost. I used to say, laugh¬ 
ingly, though in a bragging way, that he and I during 
our partnership, never finally lost a case with which 
we alone were charged. 

In most of the vases that belonged to the firm be¬ 
fore I joined it, the retainers had been paid, conse¬ 
quently nothing came in before the final trial. The 
result of this was that I was greatly troubled to pay 
our board and to meet the demands of a family that 
began to increase at an early date. 

Judge Hill appointed me Court Reporter, for at 
that time we had ho stenographers, and I learned to 
take down testimony almost as fast as the stenographer 
did in after years. I wrote rapidly. 

Whatever excellence I had in this respect I acquired 
in the Army, where I had taken down orders in the 
field, written extensive reports, and filled up vouchers 
without number. 

This facility in writing enabled me to keep up rea¬ 
sonably well with the witness on the stand. In this 
way I made enough money to pay expenses until the 
cases began to come in and money became available 
from the regular practice. 

Mr. Burke had a sister who was married to Judge 
Asa Holt, a prominent and wealthy citizen of Macon. 
When she heard that her niece, Fannie, had decided 
to marry a man in Sparta she said to some of her 
friends: “I do not know what in the world the poor 
child will do. The man she is marrying is as poor as 
a church mouse and it looks like they are in danger of 
starvation.” Dr. Pendleton, at whose home I first 
paid addresses to my wife, stated also that he didn’t 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


197 


know how we were going to live, and added, “I sup¬ 
pose they can sit in a corner and hold one another’s 
hand and in this way may get some joy out of life.” 

Mr. Hill allowed me always to take the lead in the 
trial of the cases in the State courts. He managed the 
cases in the United States courts, as he was well up 
in the practice there, and I was rejoiced to have him 
do so. We forged ahead until our practice finally be¬ 
came considerable, nearly twenty-five thousand dollars 
per annum, and the future was assured. 

Mr. Hill was elected City Attorney in the early 
part of our partnership and we held this position for 
over eight years at a reasonably good salary for young 
men. Mr. Burke, who was in the City Council, secured 
this appointment for my partner and we held up the 
business as well as usual, I think. The presence of 
Judge Hill upon the bench, before whom all the prin¬ 
cipal cases in the county must come, gave us some ad¬ 
vantage in getting practice. It was something which 
counted in people’s minds to be the son of the pre¬ 
siding Judge. So our practice began steadily to in¬ 
crease. 

In 1876 we formed a partnership with Messrs. La¬ 
nier & Anderson, a leading firm in the city. The part¬ 
nership was made as a firm and not as individuals. In 
this way we became connected with another large ar¬ 
ray of cases extending throughout the region round 
about Macon. When the partnership was formed 
Judge Anderson was sick, and this sickness had lasted 
for several months. He was gradually recovering at 
the time we formed the partnership and soon came 
back to the office and took charge of the cases. Colonel 
Lanier was the father of Sidney Lanier, the poet, who 
was, in fact, once a member of the firm and the Code, 
which he used and annotated, fell into our possession 
and has been kept in our office ever since. 


198 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


Colonel Lanier was not a great lawyer, but one of 
the greatest, most persistent and conscientious work¬ 
ers that I have ever met. He kept the run of all the 
cases in the office, talked to the witnesses and made 
the briefs. 

Judge Clifford Anderson, who afterwards became 
Attorney General of the State, was probably the ablest, 
and on many accounts the most remarkable practitioner 
at the bar at this time in the State. He never took a 
note in the court house, no matter how long the case 
lasted, or how great the array of witnesses. His mem¬ 
ory was without exception the most accurate that was 
ever known in our part of the country. He could state 
the testimony from beginning to* end without a mis¬ 
take, even though the case lasted many days. He never 
read a paper more than once. If the case was put off 
and at another term of the court came on for trial it 
was impossible to get him to go over the papers again. 
He seemed to remember each one as well as if he 
had read it ten minutes before. 

Wherever there was a dispute as to what a wit¬ 
ness had said Judge Anderson made his statement and 
if there was an appeal to the record there was never 
a variance found betwen his statement and the record. 
It was a great privilege to have been associated with 
a powerful intellect like this man possessed. He never 
prepared his cases, but trusted to others and when he 
came to the trial used the preparation they had made. 
He was never, in my recollection, unhorsed in the 
court house. He caught on his feet every time and 
turned against an expectant lawyer the most unex¬ 
pected adverse testimony that could be presented. His 
mind was full of resources and if he suffered defeat 
for a time it was always with a full expectation of 
successfully coming back. We got on well with these 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


199 


two and Walter and I entertained equal admiration 
for the gigantic intellect of our senior partner. 

The clearness of his diction in argument was with¬ 
out exception the most remarkable at the bar. It was 
so understood by the profession. I recollect on one 
occasion the chief justice of the Supreme Court said 
to him by way of correction: “ Judge Anderson, you 
mean to say, so and so,” and then the court stated 
what he thought the lawyer meant. As we came out 
I heard the words go around among the lawyers who 
had attended, in this way: “The idea of Judge W. 
trying to correct a sentence of Judge Anderson on the 
pretense that it was obscure.” Then it was replied: 
“There isn’t a man on earth who can construct a sen¬ 
tence clearer than Clifford Anderson.” 

Macon had some strong men at the bar in these 
days that we were called on to meet in debate in the 
court house. There comes up to me the vision of 
Judge Washington Poe, kinsman of the great poet, of 
Judge Samuel Hall, afterward one of the leading lights 
on the Supreme Court bench, of A. O. Bacon, after¬ 
wards United States Senator, and one of the ablest 
speakers in that august assemblage; L. N. Whittle, a 
nobleman of the old school, whose delight it was to 
encourage a young practitioner; John Rutherford, a 
persistent worker and un-reconstructed Southerner. 

I remember when Col. Rutherford began the trial 
of a case of considerable importance in the court house. 
At that time there were colored men on the jury. He 
struck the jury without noticing the colored man and 
when he came to make the opening statement of his 
case he saw the negro sitting in the box. He imme¬ 
diately turned around to the court and asked that the 
case be dismissed. He preferred to bring it over 
again rather than try it before a jury with the negro 
on the panel. 


200 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


Continuing the enumeration there comes to my mem¬ 
ory a nephew of the last mentioned attorney, Captain 
John C. Rutherford. His mother was a sister of 
Howell Cobb and his father was Professor Williams 
Rutherford, my old teacher at college, who gave me 
the problem on the entrance examination that I could 
not solve. Captain Rutherford was a partner of Col. 
A. O. Bacon, under the firm name of Bacon & Ruther¬ 
ford. 

He was by all odds the most skillful practitioner I 
ever saw handle a case before a jury. He was the 
master of every artifice necessary to compel a jury’s 
assent, an able and eloquent speaker and logical rea- 
soner, thoroughly versed in the law and endowed with 
a most wonderful knowledge of human nature. He 
stood without exception shoulder high above any man 
that I can recall in these early days, so far as jury 
practice was concerned. 

It was my fortune to be on the other side of a 
great number of cases in which he was counsel. As 
I am writing confidentially with myself I think I 
might refer to one of the cases where I was leader on 
one side and he on the other. It was a case in Twiggs 
Superior Court brought by him, in which he was trying 
to set up a nuncupative will for a man named Perry, 
who had been working for wages in the home of the 
alleged testatrix at her death. The purported will 
left the bulk of the estate, which was a large one, to 
Perry. I was absolutely convinced that the claim was 
fraudulent and my clients were especially anxious to 
defeat the action. They were the heirs-at-law if the 
will failed. 

The case attracted much attention and on the night 
before it was to be tried we all met at the hotel in 
Jeffersonville, so as to be ready to go into the trial 
on the next day. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


201 


I had one misfortune, I may call it, known to Cap¬ 
tain Rutherford. I could not bear tobacco smoke. 
Never having learned to smoke or to chew, the smell 
of the smoke not only sickened me but disordered my 
mind and made it impossible for me to control my 
thoughts. I think he worked a scheme on me. After 
supper he came into my room in the hotel bring¬ 
ing with him the Judge of the Court and several other 
lawyers for the purpose, as he pretended, of talking 
with me about the political condition of the country, 
the old war and our part in the same. Of course they 
began to smoke as soon as they came in and in a few 
minutes the room was completely darkened with the 
fumes of tobacco. Then Captain Rutherf.ord talked 
at me and centered all the interest on my conversation 
to keep me busy talking while they smoked. Of course 
I couldn’t order them out of the room and I could 
not myself leave the room, so I suffered the martyr¬ 
dom that follows the man unused to tobacco. He 
kept this up until eleven o’clock, by which time my 
system had become saturated with nicotine. 

Next day we went into the case and I soon found 
that the project for my discomfiture was to be success¬ 
ful. I could not control my mind nor my memory. My 
head was flighty and I neglected or missed the main 
parts of the case in presenting it to the jury. The re¬ 
sult was a verdict in favor of his client and a com¬ 
plete defeat of his opponent. It was on the idea that 
everything was fair in love and war. 

I moved for a new trial and the court granted it 
but the case was never tried again. It went out with 
its own weight, I think. 

Captain Rutherford never admitted himself defeat¬ 
ed. He was the most terrible counsel on cross exami¬ 
nation that ever stood before a jury. No witness 


202 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


could stand up against him. He has freqently over¬ 
whelmed the witness and utterly discredited him by his 
adroit and wonderfully skillful cross examination. He 
brought on his own death from his work in defend¬ 
ing the Tom Woolf oik murder case. He threw into 
this case all the powers of his matured and gigantic 
intellect. It was the case where a man had slain his 
whole family consisting of nine people, including his 
father, his step-mother, and a number of his half 
brothers and sisters. The prejudice was so great 
against Woolf oik that a change of venue was allowed 
and the case was carried to Houston County, where it 
was finally tried. Woolfolk was hanged, but the ex¬ 
traordinary efforts made by Captain Rutherford to 
save his client’s life brought on a complete prostration 
from which he never recovered. 

PROHIBITION AND TECHNOLOGY 

Some time during these years my partner, Mr. Hill, 
said to me that every lawyer who worked hard over 
his cases ought to have some kind of hobby to advo¬ 
cate in order to take his mind from his business and 
give him rest. 

Accordingly he and I decided in the course of time 
to take up two separate matters and try to bring them 
to the attention of the people of the State. Mr. Hill 
chose prohibition and I took up the question of es¬ 
tablishing a school of technology in Georgia. 

My partner finally became deeply interested in the 
subject he had determined to take up. To this end 
he began to write for the papers and magazines and 
to deliver lectures throughout the State. He soon be¬ 
came one of the principal leaders in the warfare that 
was waged against the sale of liquor. He became so 
immersed in the subject that he did not allow a day to 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


203 


pass without trying to add something to the cause of 
temperance. This was the condition of our affairs 
when I determined to run for the Legislature in or¬ 
der, if possible, to establish the school of technology. 

My friend, Major J. F. Hanson, was the first per¬ 
son who mentioned such a school to me. This was in 
the early part of the year 1882. I took up the ques¬ 
tion, studying the subject from every standpoint pos¬ 
sible. I announced for the Legislature and my part¬ 
ner supported me with all his strength and power. It 
was a time when “treating” by a candidate was ex¬ 
pected; in fact, demanded, if success was to be ob¬ 
tained. I had never taken a drink of liquor, as I 
have stated heretofore, and I had certainly never 
treated any person by giving him whiskey. I would 
have been beaten badly, I think, but for the fact that 
one good friend in Macon came to my help. Apple- 
ton P. Collins engineered my campaign and went 
around with me to see and talk with the voters. 
He stood at my back and when one of the voters would 
come up to me and demand a drink, as was the custom, 
he would step in front and say: “Harris doesn’t do 
those things. I am doing his drinking; come with 
me,” and the man had to be content with this recep¬ 
tion. I found out from watching the situation that 
Collins could handle such men much better than I could. 
I led the ticket. 

Mr. Hill stood all day at the polls at the court¬ 
house “corralling” the voters, as he used to say. Bibb 
was entitled to three representatives. The other two 
selected were, my class mate, Hon. Charles L. Bart¬ 
lett and Colonel W. A. Lofton. 

They were strong men and men of their own heads. 
We never tried to control one another. 



FOUNDER’S LOVING CUP 
Bearing following inscription: 

1885—1913 

PRESENTED TO N. E HARRIS 
FOUNDER OF THE 

GEORGIA SCHOOL OF TECHNOLOGY AND PRES¬ 
IDENT OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, BY 
THE FACULTY AND ALUMNI, AS A TOKEN 
OF AFFECTION AND ESTEEM. 













AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


205 


The Legislature met in the fall of 1882 and or¬ 
ganized by electing Lewis Garrard, of Columbus, as 
speaker and Mark Hardin, of Bartow, as Clerk. W. 
A. Little, a colleague of the speaker, from Columbus, 
was appointed Chairman of Finance, when the com¬ 
mittees were selected. I was put on this committee 
but did not obtain a chairmanship until later in the 
session, when I was made Chairman of the Re-district¬ 
ing Committee. 

I had made my race in Bibb County almost entirely 
upon the proposition that I would try to establish for 
Georgia a school of technology. The canvass in Bibb 
tied me up on the prohibition question so that I had 
very little liberty of action concerning it. The Liquor 
Dealers Association, headed by James H. Campbell, 
brought me up with the question, “how did I stand on 
the prohibition matter?” I answered him that I was 
not running on that question, but solely for the es¬ 
tablishment of the school referred to. I further told 
him that it was not my purpose to try to destroy his 
business. I knew the county was strongly opposed to 
the prohibitory law at that time and while I made no 
pledge and gave no promise concerning any vote that 
I should cast, I simply advised him that I was not 
running on any platform to destroy the liquor traffic. 
Yet, I told him that I was a member of Mulberry 
Street Church, which his wife attended, and that I was 
in favor of temperance and would support any measure 
that would aid the cause, short of prohibiting entirely 
his business. He replied: “The spirits can stand any 
tax, but don’t pass a law prohibiting the sale.” 

With this quasi-understanding I was elected by a 
heavy majority over all opponents. 


206 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


DIFFICULTIES IN THE WAY 

I knew it was not to be an easy undertaking to es¬ 
tablish such a school as the one indicated. The way 
bristled with difficulties. In the first place, it must be 
a branch of the State University, to enable the Legis¬ 
lature to endow it. Our Constitution expressly pro¬ 
hibited the use of the public funds for education, save 
to teach the children in the elementary branches of an 
English education. The provision touching the Uni¬ 
versity itself confined the appropriations of the Leg¬ 
islature to “donations,” which were to depend on the 
condition of the treasury. The use of the word “do¬ 
nation,” it was thought by strict constructionists, pro¬ 
hibited any appropriations in the ordinary accepta¬ 
tion of the term, limiting the Legislature’s action to 
gifts or donations to be taken out of the surplus of the 
treasury. 

At the time of the introduction of the resolution 
concerning the School, there were several branches of 
the University. Some of these had proven failures 
and all of them were especially unpopular with the 
great body of the University alumni, including its 
Board of Trustees. They were called “stepchildren,” 
or “children of the law,” and were recognized only be¬ 
cause the Legislature had forced them upon the breast 
of the parent mother. Every dollar that was given 
to these 'branches, it was felt by the University’s 
friends, was so much money taken away from that in¬ 
stitution, and thus to this extent embarrassed its prog¬ 
ress and development. 

In addition to this, about three million dollars of the 
bonds of the State were falling due and provision for 
the refunding of these had to be made. The State 
had suffered in the great monetary circles of the Na- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


207 


tion by reason of her repudiation of about eleven mil¬ 
lion dollars of bonds issued by the Reconstruction au¬ 
thorities during those unfortunate never-to-be-forgot¬ 
ten times, when the negro and the carpetbagger were 
dominant in the councils of the old commonwealth. 
Grave fears were entertained that it would be impos¬ 
sible to get any one to take the bonds necessary to re¬ 
fund this heavy debt, and there was consequently in the 
minds of the public an unmistakable dread of the fu¬ 
ture, lest the State should go to protest and her credit 
and standing be irretrievably ruined. Besides this, the 
State was just then preparing to build the State Capitol, 
which would necessitate an extra tax on the people for 
an expenditure of one million dollars. All these mul¬ 
tiplied the difficulties in the pathway of such an ap¬ 
propriation. 

The formidable antagonism of the great University 
influence would ordinarily, it was believed, destroy 
any measure as unpopular as this one was thought to 
be. And when there is added to this fact that the 
treasury had already become depleted, that more ap¬ 
propriations had been made than the income of the 
State justified, and that the legislators were sleeplessly 
vigilant in trying to cut off anything like the expendi¬ 
ture of public money, in the interest either of educa¬ 
tion, pensions or otherwise, it can be seen how hope¬ 
less appeared the task of securing the passage of a 
bill that would necessitate in the end something like 
a half million dollar appropriation. Those who have 
gone through the effort to get an educational appro¬ 
priation will best understand this. 

In accordance with my pledges concerning the es¬ 
tablishment of the school referred to, the first thing I 
did was to introduce into the House the following res¬ 
olution : 


208 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


“Resolved, That a committee of seven from the 
House be appointed by the Speaker to investigate and 
consider the propriety and expediency of establishing 
in this State a School of Technology, under the super¬ 
vision and direction of the State University and, as a 
part thereof, to be endowed by the State and that said 
committee report their conclusions to this House at 
adjourned session thereof. 

“Said committee shall have authority and it shall be 
their duty to meet at some place to be fixed by the 
Chairman at some time between the time when the 
present session shall adjourn and the time of the meet¬ 
ing of the General Assembly in the summer, to con¬ 
sider and investigate said matter. 

“Resolved, further, That in case said committee are 
of opinion that the establishment of such school in 
this State is proper and expedient, they may be re¬ 
quired to prepare a bill to that effect and report the 
same for consideration to this House at the time of 
making their report as above provided.” (See House 
Journal, 1883, page 230.) 

The Speaker appointed the seven members of the 
House as follows: 

N. E. Harris, Chairman. 

W. A. Little. 

M. V. Calvin. 

W. A. Wilson. 

R. F. Watts. 

F. P. Rice. 

R. B. Russell. 

At the called session which met in May, 1883, to 
attend the funeral of Governor Alexander H. Ste¬ 
phens, the Speaker added three more members, to-wit: 

E. H. Beck. 

Tom Eason. 

W. N. Spence. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


209 


A meeting of the committee was then called for 
June 9, 1883, an d the place fixed for said meeting was 
the city of New York. We went by sea. Nine out of 
the ten members attended the meeting and divided the 
work into three heads, to-wit: 

Curriculum, Equipment and Finance. 

I had been appointed Chairman, in accordance with 
the parliamentary rule, having been first appointed, 
and having introduced the resolution. After examin¬ 
ing the technical schools in Massachusetts and New 
York, and studying the curriculum followed by these 
institutions, the committee made a report to the House 
on July 24th, 1883, at the term then in session, unan¬ 
imously recommending that the school be established 
and accompanying the report with a skeleton bill in¬ 
tended to be completed by the finance committee and 
introduced in the House. All of this was done and 
three hundred copies of the report, which had been 
written by me, were ordered printed for circulation in 
the State. The Finance Committee completed the bill 
and reported it to the House at the same session with 
the recommendation that it be passed. 

When the bill came up for consideration and pas¬ 
sage it was met by a fierce and vigorous opposition. 
Some of the opposition grew out of antagonisms that 
arose from the effort of the Re-districting Committee 
to lay out the new congressional districts. I was 
Chairman of this Committee for the House and all 
its mistakes and unpopular moves were laid at my 
door. On the final vote the measure received 65 affir¬ 
mative and 64 negative votes. Eighty-eight votes 
were necessary to pass it. 

It was re-considered the next day and laid on the 
table for the term. Its friends were disappointed but 
did not despair. The contest had reached the coun- 


210 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


try and fired the heart of the old State. During the 
interim, between the adjournment of the Legislature 
and the election of members to the next House, the 
contest went on in the State. The report of the com¬ 
mittee of nine was sent to all the leading papers of 
the State. Large extracts were made from it; appeals 
were constantly urged in its favor and finally the Geor¬ 
gia State Agricultural Society, at its meeting in Sa¬ 
vannah on February 12, 1884, endorsed the measure 
and recommended its passage. I had been asked to 
deliver an address on the subject before that great 
body, which then constituted the only organization of 
the farmers in the State. The address was published 
in the Savannah papers and scattered throughout the 
country. Letter after letter came from all parts of 
the State commending the measure and urging a con¬ 
tinuance of the efforts to pass it at the next session 
of the Legislature. 

Meantime, the Chancellor and other prominent 
members of the faculty of the State University, who 
had always been unfavorable to such institutions, 
wrote words of encouragement and proffers of assist¬ 
ance. These men were too great to let the old ani¬ 
mosity towards branch colleges stand in the way of an 
institution which, they felt, would bring about so great 
an advantage to the State. Professor White, at the 
same meeting in Savannah before the State Agricul¬ 
tural Society, discussing the experiments on the farm 
under his charge at Athens, gave an object lesson show¬ 
ing the value of technical education, on the lines 
upon which the school was projected. Henry S. 
Haynes, General Manager of the Savannah, Florida & 
Western Railroad, whose headquarters were at Sa¬ 
vannah, wrote a warm letter to me, in which, after dis¬ 
cussing the methods of modern education and refer- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


211 


ring to the address that had been made in Savannah, 
he used these words: 

“I have been so deeply impressed with the growing 
necessity for technical education that I have sought it 
for my children, but could not find it in the State of 
Georgia, nor, may I add, in the South. As a conse¬ 
quence, I have been compelled to send my sons to a 
northern state to obtain what their birthplace did not 
accord them. My oldest son will graduate as a me¬ 
chanical engineer this year. My second son is receiv¬ 
ing practical instruction in chemistry* and my third 
and youngest is also in a technical institution.” 

He added: “I made this personal reference in order 
to show my appreciation of your efforts in the cause 
of technical education.” 

I made the race in my own county for the Legisla¬ 
ture again solely upon the issue of the establishment 
of the State Technological School. I led the ticket 
again. Four of the nine young men who had gone 
with me to the North were left at home, not trying 
for re-election. This was no small loss to the cause. 

One of the first measures that came in on the call 
of the counties in the House was the Technological 
Bill, marked “Bill No. 8,” introduced by the ‘Gentle¬ 
man from Bibb.’ It was largely a copy of the bill that 
had been drafted at the previous Legislature. 

I was Chairman of the Finance Committee that year 
and the bill was sent to my committee. It did not go 
through unresisted. Numerous amendments were of¬ 
fered, numerous parliamentary schemes were inaugu¬ 
rated to defeat it, but it finally emerged from the com¬ 
mittee substantially as it had been introduced, bearing 
with it a favorable report. It was made a special 
order several times in the House and was finally reach¬ 
ed on July 22, as will be seen from the House Jour¬ 
nal of 1885, page 127. 


212 


autobiography 


Its consideration occupied four days, extending 
through July 22nd and 23rd, and then going over as 
unfinished business as a special order for the 28th of 
July. It finally reached a vote on the 29th. There 
were 93 votes in favor and 62 against it. On the 
next legislative day Mr. Chancy, one of the represen¬ 
tatives, asked permission to have his vote recorded in 
its favor, thus making a total vote on the passage, 
of 94 in favor of it. Eighty-eight were necessary to its 
passage. Some of the strongest men in the Legisla¬ 
ture came out in its favor on the final passage. Joe 
Terrell, afterwards Governor, made his maiden speech 
in behalf of this bill. Russell, of Clarke, now Chief 
Justice, who represented Athens and the University 
influence, voted and spoke in its favor. In his argu¬ 
ment, which was one of the most vigorous ever de¬ 
livered by Judge Russell in the House, he referred to 
the fact that the world was moving and that although 
branch colleges were unpopular and although many 
arguments might be made against the bill from the 
University standpoint, yet he felt that his duty to him¬ 
self required him to move forward instead of back¬ 
ward, for he knew the State demanded this character 
of education. 

On its passage through the House the principal op¬ 
position was led by Harrell, of Webster; Spinks, of 
Paulding, and Watkins, of Gilmer. I have never for¬ 
gotten the feelings with which I listened to the roll 
calls, for all such bills were required to pass by yea 
and nay vote and the clerk called the names of the 
representatives one by one. When the record showed 
that the required majority had endorsed the measure, 
the enthusiasm of the House could not be controlled. 
The members shouted and pounded their desks and 
threw their papers into the air, hurrahing at the top 
of their voices. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


213 


But the bill had to run the gauntlet of the Senate. 
Col. John S. Davidson was Chairman of the Senate Fi¬ 
nance Committee and took it up as it came from the 
House. He told me jokingly once that he had made 
more promises in order to get the bill through the 
Senate than he could ever fulfill, if he lived the cen¬ 
tury out. He naively asserted that he could not under¬ 
stand why the Senators from the mountains were so 
much opposed to the bill, since it was intended most 
for the benefit of the very people who lived in their 
counties. It finally came to a vote in the Senate, and 
went through with two amendments, rather imma¬ 
terial as they were, but these two amendments had to 
to be assented to by the House. On October 9, 1885, 
I made a motion to take the bill from the table, where 
all bills with Senate amendments were placed, in order 
that the amendments might he concurred in and the bill 
sent to the Governor. A surprise was in store for me. 
The yeas and nays were called on the question and the 
House voted 53 yeas to 65 nays against consideration. 

On examining the vote, it was found that eleven 
members who had voted in favor of the measure, voted 
against taking it up. It was discovered, too, that its 
opponents had worked up a strong party in favor of 
letting the bill lie upon the table and die with the ses¬ 
sion. It had a margin of only six votes at the time 
of its passage. One of the members came to me and 
said: “You are young, Harris. You can wait awhile 
on this measure. Come back again to the Legislature 
and try to pass it hereafter.” This was the advice of a 
good friend but it filled my heart almost with despair. 

On October 12th, I moved again to take the 
bill from the table in order to agree to the Senate 
amendments. (House Journal 1885, page 1,066.) The 
motion prevailed and the bill was taken up for con- 


214 


autobiography 


sideration. When the first amendment was put to the 
House, the enemies of the bill rallied in the last effort 
to defeat it. Harrell, of Webster, led the opposition 
and inaugurated something of a filibuster. The prev¬ 
ious question had been ordered and on taking the vote 
on the main question, Mr. Harrell called for the yeas 
and nays. The House voted 63 to 43 in favor of or¬ 
dering the main question on the first amendment. Mr. 
Harrell immediately moved a re-consideration of this 
vote and on this I called a yea and nay vote. The yeas 
were 45 and the nays 66. Mr. Harrell then moved to 
table the bill and amendments and on this called for 
a yea and nay vote. The yeas were 46 and the nays 
65. The amendment was then adopted without a di¬ 
vision. 

On the second amendment Mr. Usury, who had 
been acting with Judge Harrell, called for a yea and 
nay vote.. The vote was 69 yeas and 44 nays and 
this passed the bill. On this vote Mr. Hawks, of 
Sumter, who was opposed to the hill, announced a 
pair with Mr. O. B. Stevens, of Terrell, who after¬ 
wards became the State Railroad Commissioner. 

The Governor approved the bill on October 17, 
1885, and the Technological School was authorized 
and became a thing to be reckoned with in the State. 

But the fight against the institution was not yet con¬ 
cluded. Judge Harrell had become by this time so 
completely obsessed with the idea that the school ought 
not to exist that he notified its friends he would re¬ 
sort to the courts and enjoin the treasurer from using 
the money of the State. His objection grew out of 
the peculiar form of the appropriation, which was in 
these words: 

“Be it further enacted that the sum of $65,000.00 
or so much thereof as may be necessary, be, and the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


215 


same is, hereby appropriated for the establishment of 
said school, and to carry this act into effect the Gov¬ 
ernor is authorized to draw his warrant on the Treas¬ 
urer of the State in favor of said commission, for such 
parts of said sum as may be applied for in writing, 
from time to time, as the said work progresses. Pro¬ 
vided this sum shall be available only after the first 
day of January, 1887, and shall then be paid only out 
of any funds in the treasury not otherwise appro¬ 
priated.” 

This peculiar wording was due to the views then 
entertained touching appropriations to the State Uni¬ 
versity. They were called “donations” as I have here¬ 
tofore explained, and the strict constructionists in¬ 
sisted that the word “donation,” in view of the words 
which followed, confined such appropriations to the 
surplus in the treasury alone. So the opponents of the 
school insisted that there never was a surplus in the 
treasury and consequently that the appropriation could 
never be paid. 

The matter was referred to the Attorney General 
and the words received an interpretation by him. The 
great man who held the office at that time, Clifford 
Anderson, of Macon, was the clearest headed law¬ 
yer, I think, that had filled the place in a generation. 
After fully examining into the precedents and the 
methocfs of appropriation in vogue in the United 
States Congress, and hearing from both sides, he came 
to the conclusion that the appropriation could he paid, 
and so reported to the Executive Department. The 
threatened injunction, therefore, went for naught. 

Judge Harrell, however, came back next year to the 
Legislature of 1886-87 to repeal the act before the ap¬ 
propriation had become operative. He was a strong 
man and he fought the measure with desperate energy. 


216 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


The whole scheme was in jeopardy. I had not re¬ 
turned to this Legislature and a large number of those 
who were friendly to it had dropped out of the House. 
The Speaker of the House, however, Judge W. A. 
Little, seeing, how much was at stake, left the chair 
and with Napoleonic energy, eloquence, and power, 
marshalled the forces in favor of the measure and de¬ 
feated the effort to repeal it. 

Strange to say, this fight was renewed when the 
first appropriation was sought to be made for the in¬ 
stitution to pay its expenses for the year 1889-1890. 
The committee had reported in favor of the appro¬ 
priation, giving the school $18,000.00 for the main¬ 
tenance fund. The public schools also were involved. 
Judge Harrell attacked the whole bill in every way 
possible, endeavoring to defeat it. After a long dis¬ 
cussion, extending over several days, Hon. Clark 
Howell, of Fulton, who was then a member of the 
House, called the previous question and in fiery and 
potent language arraigned the opposition. He said: 

“ Did I not know that one more able than I would 
close this discussion in favor of the report of the com¬ 
mittee, I would take this occasion to resent the out¬ 
rageous charges of the gentleman from Webster. I, 
for one, am satisfied that this House is tired of wit¬ 
nessing the humiliating spectacle of this Don Quixote 
throwing himself against the windmill. He has made 
three speeches already on this question and yet cries 
‘gag law.’ In the desperation of the defeat of his il¬ 
liberal policy, he is growing so bitter that he attacks 
the honor and impugns the motives of the members 
of this House, as he has done in every House in which 
he has served. I expect to hear him, in the future, 
charge this House with the same corruption which he 
has sought to fix on each of the others to which he be¬ 
longed. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


217 


“I am tired of it and this House is insulted at his 
effrontery. He has virtually charged your speaker 
with having packed a committee; he has charged the 
distinguished gentleman from Bartow with having vio¬ 
lated his obligation to support the Constitution for the 
purpose of having the State relieve him of the expense 
of educating his son. He has impugned the motive of 
every member of the House who differs with him, and 
if this discussion continues, the House may be further 
humiliated. I, therefore, rise to call the previous ques¬ 
tion and in doing so will state that Dr. Felton, as act¬ 
ing Chairman of the Appropriations Committee under 
the rules of the House is entitled to the closing argu¬ 
ment in behalf of the bill. This discussion has been 
going on four days, and it is useless to continue it 
further. I therefore call the previous question on the 
bill, substitute and amendments.” 

It is needless to say the motion prevailed and the 
House voted the appropriation. 

FIRST COMMISSION 

So as I have said, the school was authorized and 
about January i, 1886, Governor McDaniel, who was 
then in the gubernatorial chair, appointed the first com¬ 
mission consisting of N. E. Harris, of Bibb; S. M. 
Inman, of Fulton; O'. S. Porter, of Newton; E. R. 
Hodgson, of Clarke; Columbus Heard, of Greene. 

This commission organized by electing me Chair¬ 
man, which position I have occupied from that time to 
the present. E. R. Hodgson was made Secretary, 
which position he occupied to the time of his resig¬ 
nation a few years ago, and S. M. Inman was elected 
Treasurer, which position he occupied till he resigned 
on account of his removal from the State. J. S. Akers 
took his place as such treasurer and held the office un¬ 
til he resigned from ill health a short while since. 


218 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


At the first meeting of the commission a circular 
letter was prepared setting forth the main features of 
the act and asking for offers of endowment in accord¬ 
ance with the provision contained in the same, with the 
view of locating the school. This method of location 
was comparatively a new one in the State, but has been 
followed in many instances since, both in this State 
and in other states. At the second meeting the bids 
were ordered closed by October i, 1886. The places 
which put in offers of endowment with a view to the 
location of the institution were: 

1. Athens and the University. 

2. Atlanta, represented by Judge Hillyer, the 
Mayor. 

3. Macon, filed by the Secretary. 

4. Penfield, presented by Judge Heard. 

5. Milledgeville, presented by the Secretary. 

It was thought best that the commission, in justice 
to the bids or offers aforesaid, should visit all the points 
desirous of securing the location, and give to the ad¬ 
vocates of each an opportunity to be heard, while at « 
the same time examining and appraising the property 
that had been offered. This was done in the early 
part of October. 

On October 19, 1886, the commissioners met in At¬ 
lanta and proceeded to open the bids and vote on 
their acceptance. The following ballots were taken 
which ought to be of interest to all friends of the. 
school. The commissioners voted viva voce. First 
ballot: Macon* 1 vote, Harris; Penfield, 1 vote, 
Heard; Athens, 1 vote, Hodgson; Atlanta, 1 vote, 
Inman; Milledgeville, 1 vote, Porter. There being 
no election a second ballot was had. In that ballot 
Penfield received 2 votes, Heard and Porter; Atlanta, 

1; Macon, 1; Athens, 1. The third ballot resulted* 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


219 


Macon, i; Penfield, i; Athens, i; Atlanta, 2; Porter 
and Inman voting for Atlanta. The same result was 
reached on each ballot, up to and including the 21st, 
when the commission adjourned to the next day, Oc¬ 
tober 20th. When the 22nd ballot was taken on Oc¬ 
tober 20th, the vote stood as follows: Macon, 2, Har¬ 
ris and Heard; Athens, 1; Atlanta, 2, Inman and Por¬ 
ter. The 23rd ballot showed no change but on the. 
24th ballot Hodgson came to Atlanta giving her three 
votes. On this ballot the vote was: Macon, 1, Har¬ 
ris; Athens, 1, Heard; Atlanta, 3, Inman, Porter and 
Hodgson. It was declared that Atlanta had secured 
the location and the commission then pledged its un¬ 
animous support to Atlanta in behalf of the school. 

The commission procured the services of Mr. Hig¬ 
gins, from the Worcester Free Institute, to superin¬ 
tend the construction and installation of its mechanical 
department. This was done because the school was 
modeled upon the plan of the Worcester Free Insti¬ 
tute and the authorities of that school seemed willing 
to show every possible consideration to the commis¬ 
sion. Mr. Higgins was superintendent of their me¬ 
chanical department, and they practically loaned him 
to the Georgia School for the space of twelve months. 

The site and location are all fully set out in the va¬ 
rious catalogues that have appeared annually since the 
school began operations. 

On October 7, 1888, the school buildings having 
been completed, the institution was, in accordance with 
the requirements of the foundation law, turned over 
by the local commission to the trustees of the Uni¬ 
versity to be held for the State at large. The exercises 
attending the ceremonies of turning over, occurred at 
night in the opera house in Atlanta. During the day, 
the Trustees of the University visited the grounds, ex- 


220 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


amined the equipment and at a stated hour, the vast 
machinery was started by Miss Nellie Inman, daugh¬ 
ter of Commissioner Inman, a twelve-year-old miss, 
whose hand pulled the throttle that gave motion to the 
machinery of the school which, with only one interval, 
has continued ever since. 

A vast audience gathered for the opening exercises 
and Dr. Hopkins, who was elected President on April 
5th preceding, acted as master of ceremonies. Dr. 
Hopkins had received a technical training and while act¬ 
ing as President of Emory College in 1884, had open¬ 
ed in that school a small technological department, 
thus becoming the first college official in Georgia to 
inaugurate an industrial feature in a collegiate insti¬ 
tution. To this fact together with his distinguished 
position as an educator, his election as President was 
largely due. After a few strong and interesting words 
of congratulation, on the opening of the school, Dr. 
Hopkins introduced me as Chairman, whose duty it 
was in behalf of the commission to turn over the in¬ 
stitution to the State. I spoke some forty minutes. 
These exercises were fully reported in the issue of The 
Atlanta Constitution of October 8, 1888. Among 
other things which I said was the following: 

“Georgia began the agitation for this school years 
ago. The thought took shape in the universal demand 
by the press in 1882, headed by The Macon Tele¬ 
graph.” 

I further said in discussing the school: “It is the 
school of the laborer, the workshop of the mechanic, 
the college of the engineer, the university of the poor.” 

When I came to turn it over, I said: “Sir, our work 
is done, and with our hands outstretched in blessing 
and in prayer, we commit the child to the keeping of 
that great people, into whose favor and affection it 
must now struggle to make its way.” 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


221 


Judge John J. Gresham, of Macon, Chairman of 
the Board of Trustees, received the school in behalf 
of the Board and spoke warm and welcoming words 
in the name of the University trustees. Governor John 
B. Gordon was then introduced in behalf of the State 
of Georgia and congratulated the Commission and the 
State on the opening of the school and the prospects of 
its success. He made a strong and earnest speech set¬ 
ting out the advantage that such a school would be 
to the State of Georgia, into whose custody as Govern¬ 
or he now received it. Ex-Governor McDaniel, who 
had signed the act and appointed the first commission, 
was next introduced and eloquently pointed out the 
practical worth of the school, especially expressing 
pride in the fact that he had aided in its establishment. 

Then Dr. H. C. White was introduced. Dr. White 
was at a later date offered and declined the presidency 
of the school. He had helped the Chairman through¬ 
out the State, with favorable words of commendation 
to the farmers and to the interests that were in his 
hands. He prophesied great things for the school in 
its work for the future. 

Mayor Cooper, of Atlanta, sent a letter of regret, 
being too sick to attend. And then the presiding offi¬ 
cer introduced the Hon. Henry W. Grady, who con¬ 
cluded the exercises. Mr. Grady’s speech was not taken 
down. He spoke without previous preparation, but 
when he came to address the audience, the enthusiasm 
was unbounded. The people of Atlanta knew him and 
appreciated him beyond all measure. I wish his speech 
could have been published. The way he came for¬ 
ward reminded me of an old blacksmith, his knees 
being wide apart and his body held in a rigid posi¬ 
tion as if he were ready to strike. When he opened 
his mouth the words, honeyed words they were, of 


222 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


wisdom and beauty and sublimity dropped from his lips. 
He painted Georgia’s need, her undeveloped resources, 
her splendid waterpower, her great cotton fields, her 
mines unexplored, all waiting for the hand of the 
skilled engineer and artisan to develop them. He said 
the school had this duty on its shoulders. It would 
discharge it to the people, it would show them that it 
was worth operating, and in future years people would 
rise up and bless its founders for their efforts in behalf 
of the State. 

It is needless to say his words thrilled me. I had 
never before appreciated the magnificence of his dic¬ 
tion, the power of his argument and the splendor of 
his thoughts, though he had been my college mate and 
friend. 


SUBSEQUENT VIEWS ON TECH 

The founding of the Georgia School of Technology 
I regard as the most important event, of a public 
nature, that occurred in my life. 

The foregoing recitals will afford some slight idea 
of the difficulties under which the legislation that start¬ 
ed the school was secured. The difficulties, however, 
were not concluded with the action of the Legislature 
and the turning over of the school to the University 
Trustees. 

There was a bitter fight made each year in the Leg¬ 
islature for several years, against the appropriation to 
continue the school. Many of those who opposed it 
in the beginning continued their opposition after it be¬ 
gan and several of these came back to the Legislature 
to prevent the appropriation necessary to its mainte¬ 
nance. Through- all these years I attended the Legis¬ 
lature, appeared before the committee, spoke in favor 
of its appropriations and watched any proposed ad- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


223 


verse legislation and was always able to block such, 
for its friends constantly multiplied as its successful 
work became more apparent. 

At one time in his administration Captain Hall, the 
President, asked me as a favor to remain away from 
the Legislative session in order that he himself might 
do the speaking and secure the legislation necessary to 
meet the growing wants of the institution. 

I granted his request and remained away from the 
legislative session. He made an egregious failure in 
the effort to manage and direct the legislative work. 
The appropriation we were seeking was refused and 
the maintenance fund suffered diminution. He came 
to me and said: “Col. Harris, I will never ask you 
to turn over the legislative matters to me again. You 
must take charge of them and continue to look after 
them as long as I am President.” I thanked him and 
told him I was glad that he had tried, though sorry 
he had failed to reach the fruition of his hopes. He 
always followed my lead after this in legal and legis- 
tive matters. 

So, as the years passed, I have stood over and aided 
in the wonderful progress which the school has made. 
Through all the years, from January, 1886, to the 
present time, I have appeared as an ex-officio mem¬ 
ber of the Board of Trustees of the University at Ath¬ 
ens. For awhile the school was treated as an in¬ 
truder and looked on as an obstruction in the way of 
the progress of the University. Chancellor Hill once 
laughingly said to me: “If I have any rival in Georgia 
it is the Technological School.” 

I have smoothed away adverse criticism; met charges 
that grew out of jealousy; never forgetting in all the 
years that I, myself, was a graduate of the University 
of Georgia and desired to see its success in every way. 


224 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


Again and again it was suggested by the friends of 
the Tech School in Atlanta that there ought to be at¬ 
tached to it a literary department wherein the degree 
of Bachelor of Arts might be given, and the head of 
the school at times urged this as a good measure to 
insure the standing and progress of the institution. I 
have at all times set my face against such a suggestion. 
So far as I could prevent, I never allowed any dupli¬ 
cation of the University’s curriculum. Our school 
grants only engineering degrees. While the University 
gives some of the degrees, especially in Civil Engi¬ 
neering and Electrical Engineering, perhaps, yet in the 
Georgia School of Technology to obtain such degrees 
a student must take two years’ shop practice, handling 
tools, studying engines, puddling iron, and incidentally 
learning brass work, carpentry, turning lathes, and even 
blacksmithing. So that, while the degrees may seem 
similar in some of these departments to those of the 
University, yet the course of work and study to ob¬ 
tain the degrees is almost entirely distinct. In this 
school theory and practice are combined and the ma¬ 
chine is the principal text book. 

I may say here that all through the years I have 
sought to preserve harmony and good feeling between 
the administration of the Tech and that of the Uni¬ 
versity. Of course our athletics under entirely sepa¬ 
rate auspices could not be wholly controlled in this re¬ 
spect. The college ambition, the desire to succeed, 
the gaudium certaminis often made anything like good 
feeling and harmonious action impossible in this field. 
It has been found that a similar condition exists in Ala¬ 
bama, in Texas, and many other states, where two 
great public institutions are located, each receiving 
help from the public treasury. 

I was always sorry to know of the bitter feeling 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


225 


that grew up in the athletic departments. The Tech’s 
pride in her “Golden Tornado” became so great that 
the University could not help the desire to knock her 
down. The supremacy was an issue between the two, 
and the rival friends took part in the quarrel out¬ 
side. On one occasion one of the students of the At¬ 
lanta School wrote on the fence around the Tech ath¬ 
letic field the words: “Tech got Georgia’s goat.” As 
one of the games with Georgia was close at hand a bit¬ 
ter complaint was lodged against the boy who had 
written these words. The Trustees called the matter 
up and after hearing from the boy severed his connec¬ 
tion with the school and sent him home. The matter 
was reported to the Board of Trustees of the Uni¬ 
versity at Athens and that Board unanimously ordered 
the young man to be restored. 

This act of generosity had a wide effect on the stu¬ 
dent body and the faculty of the Tech School. It 
held down bitterness for a long time until other causes 
arose, and new classes coming on in both institutions 
they forgot the incident. 

I think I may say in these reminiscences that my 
heart glows with pride whenever I recall the gift that 
was made to the Georgia people by the founding of 
the Tech. Its wonderful success, as I have said again 
and again, is largely due to the fact that it was lo¬ 
cated in a city like Atlanta. That great municipality, 
at an early date took the Tech to its heart and made 
its cause the cause of Atlanta. And after fifty-five 
years of experience with that city’s ways, I have 
reached the conclusion that Atlanta never fails in any¬ 
thing it undertakes. 

So the Tech has grown larger and greater as the 
years have gone by. It has had three great Presi¬ 
dents; Hopkins, Hall and Matheson, and the new man, 


226 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


Dr. Brittain, is fast getting into the spirit of the in¬ 
stitution. His genius for administration is growing 
more apparent as his experience increases, and if no 
untoward circumstances supervene, he will make as 
great a success as those who have preceded him. He 
will have better chances. The desire for education has 
grown and increased and become wider than ever was 
before known in the Nation. There will probably be 
thirty-five hundred boys over sixteen receiving instruc¬ 
tion in engineering on the campus the present year, in¬ 
cluding the commercial school. If there were room and 
the school would advertise, it could with all ease make 
the number five thousand during the coming year. As 
it is, more than one thousand boys will be turned away 
for want of accommodations. 

I shall not undertake to describe the progress of the 
institution from year to year. It has been my life’s 
“hobby” under the agreement made with my partner, 
Walter Hill. I have devoted from first to last more 
than one-half my time to pushing it forward and aid¬ 
ing its success. I have presided over every meeting 
of the Board of Trustees, from the beginning of the 
school in 1885 down to the present time. I do not re¬ 
member one board meeting that I have ever missed. 

Once when Governor Dorsey attended a barbecue 
given to the Legislature, after he had defeated me 
for Governor, I told him in my opening speech that 
I would rather be Chairman of the Board of Trustees 
of the Georgia Tech than to be Governor of Georgia. 

When Governor Hardwick tendered me the position 
of Pension Commissioner I asked him if the accept¬ 
ance of the offer would necessitate my giving up the 
Chairmanship of the Tech Board. He supposed that 
it would, and then I said to him, as I had to Governor 
Dorsey: “Sir, I would rather be Chairman of the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


227 


Board of Trustees of the Georgia Tech than to have 
your office, and certainly I wouldn’t give it up for the 
position of Pension Commissioner. I thank you, Sir, 
for the kindness you thought to do me.” 

I cannot refrain from adding here that, while there 
are many graduates of the school who will remember 
me kindly as their old Chairman and thank me for 
what I have done for Georgia in this respect, yet I 
verily believe that, when the history of the school is 
written the work the Chairman has done, the suffering 
he has endured, the long patient struggle through 
which he has gone, will command very little attention 
from the outside world. People at large care little 
for such things. 

LAW AND LEGISLATION 

I served in the House four years successively. 
My last term, in which I succeeded in passing finally 
the charter and appropriation for the Georgia Tech, 
was a very trying one in every respect. There came 
up in that Legislature the famous Local Option Bill, 
having for its object the suppression of the liquor 
traffic in the State. 

As I had stated to the people of Bibb County, in the 
canvass that I had made for the Legislature, that I 
was not seeking the position of representative to de¬ 
stroy the business of the liquor dealers in Bibb County, 
and as these men had made no fight on me, but, in 
fact, supported me in the belief that I would not in¬ 
terfere with their business, I felt under strong obliga¬ 
tions to avoid taking part in the controversy which 
grew up in the Legislature. When the bill came up 
for consideration it took three or four days, per¬ 
haps, for discussion. While this was under way a tele¬ 
gram was sent to the Speaker to be read to the mem¬ 
bers of the House, worded as follows: 


228 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


“The good women of Mulberry Street Church are 
praying for the passage of the prohibition bill. 
(Signed) W. B. Hill, Secretary.” 

When the telegram was read out by the Clerk from 
his desk almost every head in the House was turned 
towards me, looking to see what I would do. They 
knew the telegram was sent by my partner and most 
of them knew it was sent from the church where my 
membership had b.een for many years. I leaned my 
head down on my desk and pondered seriously over 
the situation. 

I thought of it after adjournment and all through 
the night. Nearly all my closest friends were support¬ 
ing the bill. My colleagues from Bibb, however, were 
fighting with the liquor forces. Nearly every man in 
the lower House of the Assembly, who aspired to reach 
any sort of standing had spoken on the bill. So I 
heard the members asking around me: “Why don’t 
Harris speak?” I saw that there was no chance to es¬ 
cape the ordeal and I determined to go on record. 
The next morning, therefore, following the day on 
which the telegram had been read, I called the Speak¬ 
er and took the floor. 

Col. C. R. Pringle, of Washington County, was 
Chairman of the Temperance Committee and in charge 
of the bill. 

I began with an attack upon the proposed legisla¬ 
tion. The bill had been drawn so as to allow every 
city and town and every militia district, as well as 
every county, to vote on the question whether liquor 
should be sold inside the bounds of the territory so 
voting. 

I attacked this portion showing how it would lead 
to incalculable confusion. How the boundaries of a 
militia district were ill defined, and how there would 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 229 

be constant agitation throughout the State and con¬ 
tinual elections that would settle nothing definitely, ex¬ 
cept perhaps in regard to a small territory from which 
it was proposed to exclude the sale of whiskey. 

I had not spoken more than fifteen minutes, per¬ 
haps, when the Chairman, Mr. Pringle, asked to be 
allowed to interrupt me. I consented, of course, and 
he said: “Mr. Speaker, if the gentlemen will allow 
me, I will draw an amendment to the bill striking out 
all provisions for elections except within the county, 
thus making the county the unit in all cases.” I told 
him this would suit me and answer my objection, and 
if this was done I would have nothing further to say. 
I ended my speech, therefore, the amendment was made, 
and the bill passed by an exceptionally heavy majority. 
It became a law. 

The Legislature adjourned a short while after this 
episode and I returned to Macon. When I reached 
the depot I found to my utter consternation, a large 
delegation of the best citizens of the county who came 
down to meet me at the train and escort me to my 
home. I found also at the same time, a splendid dele¬ 
gation with carriages and a brass band from the Liquor 
Dealers’ Association of the city, to escort me to my 
home and to thank me for the part I had taken in con¬ 
nection with the passage of the bill. 

The prohibitionists had come down to thank me and 
congratulate me because, they said, if I had not had 
the local option feature of the cities, towns, and militia 
districts cut out from the bill, it would never have pass¬ 
ed. The Liquor Dealers’ Association, and the friends to 
the wet side, came down to meet me and congratulate 
me on the fact that my conduct had put the bill into 
such shape that it was not so objectionable to the ad¬ 
vocates of their side of the question. 


230 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


I was so mortified and overwhelmed by the situation 
that I slipped out by a side door of the station and 
crept up home disposed to hide myself and let no 
human being know of the distress that I felt over 
such a proposed welcome. If I could be so understood 
or misunderstood on a question of this sort, I resolved 
to quit politics and give up all further ambition in this 
direction. I kept this resolve for ten years. I think 
it took fully that time for me to recover from the cha¬ 
grin and mortification that I felt. 

One other incident occurred during my four years’ 
service. There had always been some uneasiness on 
the part of the people of Atlanta concerning the lo¬ 
cation of the Capitol at that point. It had been moved 
from Milledgeville during the re-construction times, 
when the Federal troops were in charge. 

No Capitol building had ever been erected and the 
Legislature was meeting in a building on Marietta 
Street erected for a theatre or opera house. Here the 
other public offices were kept, also. 

Among the representatives from Fulton was Frank 
P. Rice, who was one of the leading members of the 
Finance Committee. I, myself, was a member of that 
committee. Mr. Rice drew a bill to make an appro¬ 
priation for building a Capitol in Atlanta, which was 
to cost a million dollars, and for which a special tax 
was to be levied. 

There had existed for many years a bitter strife 
between Macon and Atlanta. The strife went further 
than mere business rivalry. It included political jeal¬ 
ousy. If a man who lived in Macon offered for a 
state-wide office, Atlanta would often decline to sup¬ 
port him, and if such a man offered from Atlanta Ma¬ 
con would decline to support him. At this time Major 
J. F. Hanson was controlling The Telegraph and after 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


231 


full consideration of the situation, and after consulta¬ 
tion, he determined to advocate the measure for erect¬ 
ing a suitable State Capitol in Atlanta. To this I 
gave my consent, provided the proposed measure could 
be so amended as to secure the State against any loss 
by mistake or otherwise in the building, and also 
protect the citizens from any heavier burden than 
they would be willing to carry for such a purpose. 

After much tribulation the bill was recommended 
by a bare majority of the Finance Committee. Notice 
was given when the report was made that a minority 
report would be filed. I drew this minority report 
and prepared sixteen amendments to the original bill 
so as to put it into shape that I thought would be sat¬ 
isfactory to the State. When the bill came to be put 
on its passage sixteen members of the committee had 
signed the minority report. This was really more 
than a majority, and of course the bill was in great 
jeopardy. The able and clear-minded legislators in 
charge of the bill accepted every amendment that was 
offered by the minority and incorporated these amend¬ 
ments into the body of the proposed Act. When this 
was done I arose in my place and stated to the House 
that the bill as amended was satisfactory to me and 
the other members of the committee. It was then put 
on its passage and went through with a considerable 
majority. It became a law, as the Senate adopted the 
action of the House. 

The Act was so guarded that it was laughingly said 
of it that Georgia would get a Capitol built within 
the appropriation (of a million dollars) or the Com¬ 
missioners, who were appointed to build it, would go 
to the penitentiary. 

One little occurrence in the House made us laugh 
and put everybody in a good humor. Colonel Rice, 


232 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


who was a fine business man, a man of wealth, made 
from dealing in Atlanta real estate, when he opened 
the discussion on the bill, began in these words: “Mr. 
Speaker, the time has come in this State for the build¬ 
ing of a Capitol bill.” 

He had not meant to add the word “bill” at the end 
of his sentence, but it came out so plain that it made 
everyone laugh, as we were all inclined to vote for 
his measure. The “bill” was surely built, and con¬ 
structed well. 

Governor McDaniel appointed the commission 
which consisted of five prominent citizens. They were 
well selected, for in my opinion, Governor McDaniel 
had better judgment about his appointments than any 
other man who ever sat in the Governor’s chair. 

After the plans were prepared and the architects 
and contractors had entered upon the building, I went 
before the commission and asked them if they had con¬ 
sidered in these plans the acoustic properties of the 
halls for the House and Senate. They said they had 
never thought about this, but would call the architect 
before them and find out what had been done in this 
respect. I had served in the old opera house where we 
had to stretch wires above the heads of the repre¬ 
sentatives in order to deaden the echoes and enable a 
speaker to be heard. We had much difficulty over 
there. I had visited the House of Representatives in 
the Capitol of Massachusetts and found a very sharp 
contrast between our halls of legislation and those of 
the people of Massachusetts. Sitting in the back seat 
of the Massachusetts House the slightest whisper from 
the speaker’s desk could be heard. In our halls it was 
almost impossible for a speaker to be heard. 

After our commissioners had consulted with their 
architect they told me that nothing had been done in 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


233 


regard to acoustics in the halls and they further said 
that the architect informed them that no one knew any 
laws about such things; that it was always a matter of 
chance. The hall might be good for speaking or it 
might turn out had. 

This is the reason of the dreadful lack of proper 
acoustic facilities in the present House of Representa¬ 
tives. No attention was paid to it, it seems, as the 
architect thought it was a matter of accident. The 
result is a real misfortune to the State. No speaker 
can be heard ten steps away in the hall and the legis¬ 
lation is done in the dark, as no man can tell what he 
is voting on unless the bill has been published or he 
hears it read in committee. Our Georgia legislation 
at present is haphazard, so far as the House is con¬ 
cerned. If the committee is not vigilant great wrong 
may possibly be done at times. 

During my first term in the Legislature I was a 
member of the Finance Committee and was brought in 
direct contact with the financial affairs of the State. 

I boarded during the session part of the time at the 
Markham House, and for the rest of the time at the 
Kimball. Colonel Tom Eason, of Telfair, was my 
room-mate. He was a true friend throughout the re¬ 
mainder of my political career. We had met a few 
times in the courts adjacent to Macon. He was in¬ 
troduced to me as one who had learned his letters 
before a light-wood fire in the great pine forests where 
he drove a team of mules or oxen, carrying logs to a 
saw mill. He had bent at night over the fire in the 
long hours trying to learn to read and spell. From 
this he had gone on educating himself until he studied 
law and was admitted to the bar. He was self-made 
in every respect, and I think this constituted one of the 
ties that always bound me to him. We very rarely dif¬ 
fered personally on the great questions that came up for 


234 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


decision while we were together. He represented Tel¬ 
fair Councy, and was also, with me, a member of the 
Finance Committee. He was loyal as a friend and 
during our long service together, always tried to safe¬ 
guard the interests of Macon wherever they were called 
in question. 

I may say here that another tie that bound us to¬ 
gether was his persistent and unvarying fidelity to the 
cause of A. O. Bacon, my fellow townsman, afterwards 
United States Senator. 

After our service, Tom became Solicitor General of 
his Circuit—prosecuted many offenders, in some of 
which prosecutions I took part, as will later on be more 
fully stated in these reminiscences. His reputation 
grew as the years went on. He was put on the Prison 
Commission and served until he grew tired of public 
life. He is dead now, but a truer, warmer, more loyal, 
more lovable friend and comrade I have never had. 
Peace to his ashes, and God bless his memory! 

It was while we boarded at the Kimball, that on one 
occasion a young gentleman wearing spectacles, sat 
down at our table. He represented Lowndes County 
in the Legislature, and when we talked to him he be¬ 
gan to express himself as being utterly dissatisfied and 
desirous of quitting the Legislature and going home to 
private life. 

We questioned him to ascertain the reason of his 
dissatisfaction and he stated that there was nothing 
occurring, in which he took an interest, so far as the 
Legislative session was concerned; that he had noth¬ 
ing to do as representative, nothing to look after as 
a legislator. He was a man of fine intelligence and 
it surprised us to hear him talk as he did. We begged 
him to allow us to have him put on the Finance Com¬ 
mittee, stating that we would ask the House that day 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


235 


when it met to add his name to our committee, if he 
would allow us. He finally consented and we put him 
on the Finance Committee. He made one of the ablest, 
strongest and most interesting representatives that we 
had in the Legislature, taking part from that day in 
all the business of the State. He was Charles R. Pen¬ 
dleton, then of The Valdosta Times, but afterwards 
of The Macon Telegraph. 

He told me over and over that the kindness we 
showed him that morning and the work we did for him 
in putting him on the Finance Committee had more to 
do with his future political success than any other event 
in his life. He studied the business of the State in the 
Committee and became a leader in our councils. 

He was my political friend after this until his death, 
and there is no position that I have since held in Geor¬ 
gia he did not aid me to obtain. His pen was always 
at my service and he did more, perhaps, than any one 
man in the whole field of my vision to bring about 
whatever success I have achieved in the political line. 
He died about thirty days before my election as Gov¬ 
ernor. He assisted me in the canvass, went with me to 
many appointments, and gave me the counsel of his 
great intellect and the support of his kind and noble 
heart. He was himself worthy and well qualified to 
fill any position in all the land, and yet, with a gener¬ 
osity seldom equalled in the world, he put his paper 
behind me in all my political aspirations and gave me 
his countenance and help, which counted the most when 
my need of it was greatest. 

When I came to Macon after my newspaper ex¬ 
perience in Hancock, I found it impossible to lose all 
interest in the work. I began, therefore, to contribute 
to the daily papers in the city, writing communications, 
and at times editorials for their columns, which they 
were kind enough to print. This I kept up through 


236 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


all the years after. I was at one time owner of the 
entire stock of The Macon Telegraph. I renewed its 
charter as attorney. I obtained the charter of The 
Macon News and organized it and in all this time kept 
up the habit of writing communications and present¬ 
ing my views of the progress of the times and the exi¬ 
gencies of the politics of the State and Nation. 

When Mr. Stephens was inaugurated Governor 
I was appointed on the committee from the House to 
take part in the arrangements. Of course I felt a great 
interest in his success, though I never had a doubt 
about the final outcome. While Georgia was rent 
with local dissension, yet he had done more to bring 
together all the factions than any man who had been 
elected Governor up to that time. 

He was opposed in his race by Mr. Bacon, after¬ 
wards Senator in the United States Congress. Mr. 
Bacon had always been my friend, but I told him in 
that race that I could not support him, as my rela¬ 
tions with Mr. Stephens were such as it would be the 
height of ingratitude if I did not give him all the help 
I could command. My race for the Legislature was 
going on at the same time as the canvass for Govern¬ 
or, but I came out strongly in favor of my old bene¬ 
factor and friend. I introduced him to the people of 
Macon, when he came down to make his speech and 
did all that I could to help him in his canvass. 

On one occasion, after his inauguration, I visited 
him in the mansion. I remember it was raining and I 
found him seated before a little stove in a room ad¬ 
jacent to, and built out from, the mansion. He was 
bending over the stove and shivering with cold and I 
asked him what on earth made him stay in this small 
room instead of the main part of the building. He 
told me the building was leaking and was so wet that 
he could not stay in it. It shocked me so greatly that 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


237 


I went at once to the Capitol and taking the appro¬ 
priation bill, which was before my committee at the 
time, I wrote into it by way of amendment an appro¬ 
priation of five thousand dollars to cover the mansion. 

I found on inquiry that the preceding Legislatures 
had absolutely refused for some reason best known to 
themselves, to make any appropriations for the re¬ 
pair of the mansion or, in fact, for any of the public 
buildings with a very few exceptions, and the conse¬ 
quence was that the mansion had become almost unin¬ 
habitable. 

When the amendment came up in the House it was 
vigorously assailed as a waste of the public funds. 
I answered the objections with a description of what 
I had found in the mansion and closed my appeal with 
this statement which I afterwards discovered to be in¬ 
correct. I said: “Mr. Speaker, the State of Georgia 
bought this mansion and issued some two hundred thou¬ 
sand dollars in bonds to pay for it and then repudi¬ 
ated the bonds. I think, therefore, that we can cer¬ 
tainly afford to keep the building in repair.” The 
House laughed when I said this, and the appropriation 
went through without a dissenting vote. 

I was sincere in the belief at that time that the 
bonds issued to pay for the building had in fact been 
repudiated. On the contrary, however, as I ascer¬ 
tained on inquiry, the bonds had been recognized and 
were then counted in the outstanding debt of the State. 

My motive was good, but my information was bad. 

I have sometimes thought that Mr. Stephens’ life 
was shortened by the experience he went through while 
an inmate of the mansion. There was so much differ¬ 
ence between this residence and Liberty Hall that I 
think his frame, which was always feeble, was not able 
to stand it. 

When he was taken sick I hoped at first for his re- 


238 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


covery, but towards the last someone telegraphed me 
at Macon that the end was approaching and advised 
me to come up at once, if I would see my friend alive. 
I took the train to Atlanta, but when I reached the 
mansion his great career had closed and his generous 
heart was stilled forever. They told me at the man¬ 
sion, when I arrived at the place, that he knew I was 
coming and almost his last intelligent words were: 
“Give Harris my love.'’ 

He died on the 4th of March, 1883. 

I little imagined, when I looked on his cold, silent 
features in the great room of the mansion that thirty- 
two years afterwards I, myself, was destined to live 
in the same home and manage the business of the 
State from the same mansion where he died. 

The Legislature was called together and met to take 
part in his funeral ceremonies. I was Chairman of 
the House committee on memorials and presented the 
report to the House that had been agreed on by the 
committee. I followed the report with an address 
that at least told of my personal sorrow, if it did not 
express fully the country’s loss. A portion of the ad¬ 
dress was printed in the minutes of the Legislature of 
that date. 

The address which I delivered was followed by one 
by Hon. Thomas E. Watson, who represented the 
County of McDuffie in that Legislature. This address 
was also published and will be found in the minutes of 
the Legislature of that date. 

One notable fact became apparent to me when I 
read the two addresses as printed afterwards in the 
minutes. I saw from the address of Mr. Watson the 
prophecy of a great career in the use of the English 
Language. His splendid diction, his brilliant thoughts, 
his deep pathos, showed me that he was even then a 
master of eloquence and I felt like Walter Scott after 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


239 


he had read Childe Harold. “There is a master 
mind coming to the front.” 

Mr. Watson as a historian, as a writer and speaker 
was much greater than as a politician or statesman. 
Unfortunately, in his latter life, his delight seemed 
to be more to tear down than to build up. 

I was much attracted by his work in this Legislature. 
He aided me in the effort I was making to establish 
a school of Technology. He was not always fortu¬ 
nate in his advocacy of measures. I remember he tried 
to have adopted a provision levying a heavy dog tax, 
which he said would bring in some revenue, and was 
necessary to protect the sheep industry of the coun¬ 
try. The Legislature took a different view and when 
he arose to speak in advocacy of the measure there 
was a persistent determination on the part of the 
members to make fun of the effort. They began to 
applaud, first in a rather gentle way, as if they fav¬ 
ored the measure. They carried this on until they 
became boisterous over it and then began a deter¬ 
mined effort to deter him and compel him to cease 
speaking. He breasted the storm for awhile, but finally 
yielded and his cause went down in defeat. 

I think afterwards he paid Georgia back in a good 
many ways. 

I have heard that he was aided in his education at 
Mercer by the same great man from whom I borrow¬ 
ed the money for schooling at Athens. In any event 
he was always a friend to Mr. Stephens while the lat¬ 
ter lived, and after his death I have never heard him 
speak a word to the disparagement of the “Great Com¬ 
moner and Sage of Liberty Hall.” 

When I ran for Governor the first time, he aided me 
in the canvass and I carried many counties through his 
influence. When I ran the second time he opposed me 
and I was defeated by Governor Dorsey. In the lat- 


240 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


ter canvass I never spoke a disparaging word of Mr. 
Watson, although he was writing me up in vigorous 
style and The Jeffersonian was filled with words of 
scorn and derision. Many times while I was speak¬ 
ing in a public hall I have heard the newsboy at the 
door shouting out, “Here’s your Jeffersonian. See 
what Mr. Watson says about old Governor Harris.” 

At one time it was the purpose of the Attorney Gen¬ 
eral of the United States to have Mr. Watson indict¬ 
ed outside of the State of Georgia for the circulation 
of a libel against the Catholic Church. It will be re¬ 
membered that such an indictment was obtained in 
Augusta upon which a trial was afterwards had and 
Mr. Watson was acquitted. 

When it became known that the Attorney General 
intended to take such a step Mr. Watson sent a prom¬ 
inent gentleman to me, one of his devoted friends, ask¬ 
ing me not to allow the Attorney General of the Uni¬ 
ted States to take such steps as would carry him, Mr. 
Watson, out of the State for trial. 

The gentleman stated to me that he had just come 
from Mr. Watson and had been directed to say to 
me that if I would prevent such a step being taken 
he would give me his earnest support as well for my 
re-election as for any other office that I might 
seek. He accompanied the statement with the asser¬ 
tion that there were twenty-five thousand people in 
Georgia who would do whatever Mr. Watson said, 
without asking any questions and these twenty-five thou¬ 
sand people could influence an equal number to take the 
same view. All these, he said, should be behind me if 
I sought for preferment in Georgia, provided I would 
take up Mr. Watson’s cause and prevent his arrest and 
extradition. I told the gentleman that I could not prom¬ 
ise to do what he requested, but I would say that I 
did not like the step which the Attorney General of 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


241 


the United States proposed taking because it tended to 
throw discredit on the State of Georgia, as the motive 
which actuated it was the belief that Georgia could 
not administer her own laws. I further said that 
it would be a reflection on my administration to 
have a thing like this done to one of our citizens and 
that I was disposed to do all I could to prevent such 
a consummation. The gentleman said to me, “Would 
you object to my using your telephone to inform Mr. 
Watsomwhat you say?” I told him I would not, where-* 
upon he took up the telephone and the connection was 
soon made and he told Mr. Watson what I had said. 

I could hear through the phone Mr. Watson’s reply, 
for it became distinct in the room, as it sometimes hap¬ 
pens, while he held the phone to his own ear. Mr. 
Watson expressed his gratification that I took the view 
that I had outlined. 

A few days afterwards I went to Washington and 
had an interview with the Attorney General, Mr. Greg¬ 
ory. After I had told him my wishes and begged him 
to desist from the efforts he was making to have Mr. 
Watson carried out of Georgia, he said to me: “What 
kind of politicians have you got in Georgia? When 
you come to me you always denounce Mr. Watson in 
unmeasured terms, and yet when I propose to silence 
him or punish him for his misdemeanors, you come 
here and take his part and urge me to let him alone. 
Why is this?” 

I did not answer him according to the inquiry but 
contented myself with telling him that I wanted him 
to let Mr. Watson alone for the sake of the honor of 
my own State and people. 

The Georgia delegation in the House, I learned af¬ 
terwards, decided to go down and make a similar re¬ 
quest to Mr. Gregory, and in the meeting where this 
was discussed, one member of the House said: “Our 


242 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


old Governor has already gone down to see the At¬ 
torney General and I am sure the rest of us can afford 
to do so.” Senator Smith also, I was informed, made 
the same request. Senator Hardwick alone declined to 
appear. 

While the matter was being considered by me, I re¬ 
ceived several letters and petitions in behalf of Mr. 
Watson, and one letter, I recall, was written by a 
young girl not more than nine or ten years of age. It 
contained words something like these: “Governor 
Harris, please don’t let the Attorney General take our 
dear Mr. Watson out.of the State. Please save him, 
Governor Harris. I am only a little girl not ten years 
old and I am sending you this petition with all my 
heart. Please don’t pass it over.” And the little one 
signed her name. 

After Mr. Watson’s bitter opposition had com¬ 
passed my defeat in 1916, I made a visit to the Sec¬ 
retary of War, Mr. Baker. The war with Germany 
had then been declared and I had gone to see the Secre¬ 
tary about some military matters that were in my 
hands. In one of our interviews he said to me that 
the Attorney General was about to take proceedings 
against Mr. Watson under the criminal statute, which 
made it a crime to oppose enlistments or interfere with 
the Nation’s preparation for the conflict with Ger¬ 
many, thus aiding or assisting the enemy. It is the 
same statute under which so many convictions have 
been had and so many prisoners have been serving in 
Fort Leavenworth. 

About this time Mr. Watson’s daughter died and 
the sad affliction very nearly broke his heart. The Jef¬ 
fersonian was suppressed and whatever other publi¬ 
cations he had were declared illegal and the intimation 
was strong that the next step would be an indictment. 
At this point Mr. Watson wrote to the Attorney Gen- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


243 


eral, reciting the fact that he had recently lost his 
daughter, that his only son had died some time before, 
and that he was left childless and broken hearted, and 
stating that if the department would take no further 
proceedings against him he would do nothing further in 
opposition to the war or against the interests of the 
army and Government. 

When the Secretary told me this he added that the 
Attorney General had sent him the letter to read and 
then I asked, “What are you going to do about it, Mr. 
Secretary?” He replied, “We will do nothing. If 
Mr. Watson abides his promise there will be no further 
steps taken against him.” 

Nothing further was done with the matter, and so 
far as the indictment for criminal libel was concerned 
it seems that the Attorney General never proceeded 
any further on that line either. 

GUBERNATORIAL SUCCESSORS 

After the death of Mr. Stephens, Judge Boynton 
succeeded to the office, as he was then President of the 
Senate and under our law he became Governor for a 
term of sixty days. He announced for election to fill 
out the unexpired term. Against him two others also 
came into the field, Hon. A. O. Bacon, of Bibb, and 
Henry D. McDaniel, of Walton. 

The Atlanta influence was thrown for Judge Boyn¬ 
ton, while the Macon influence, of course, stood by 
Mr. Bacon. I was appointed by Mr. Bacon his cam¬ 
paign chairman. 

My recent efforts to establish the School of Tech¬ 
nology had brought me many acquaintances through¬ 
out the State and had given me a little experience in 
dealing with the people. I did all that I could to carry 
Mr. Bacon’s cause to success. He had been Speaker 


244 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


of the House of Representatives of the State for some 
eight years. He had served other terms besides in the 
Legislature and acquitted himself with distinction, be¬ 
ing recognized everywhere as a man of ability and 
with a profound knowledge of the State’s affairs. He 
went to the convention with a plurality of the dele¬ 
gates, lacking only a few votes of carrying the ma¬ 
jority. 

My father-in-law, Rev. John W. Burke, was a strong 
friend of Mr. Bacon, and became one of the delegates 
to the convention. When the roll was called after the 
organization of the convention and the vote was taken 
it was found that Mr. Bacon had a plurality of some 
six votes over the highest candidate opposed to him. 
The announcement of the vote created great enthusi¬ 
asm in the Bibb delegation. The members shouted 
and I remember Mr. Burke threw his hat into the air 
and it lodged in the wiring that had been stretched 
below the ceiling of the House, to aid its acoustic prop¬ 
erties. As he was perfectly bald, we were forced to re¬ 
capture the hat before he could leave the hall. 

The balloting continued for some time, Mr. Bacon 
leading on every vote, Judge Boynton second, and Ma¬ 
jor McDaniel following behind with some fifteen votes. 

When it was finally ascertained that no nomination 
could be made, a motion was introduced by Mr. Walsh, 
of Augusta, who was favoring Judge Boynton, to ap¬ 
point a committee of fifteen to decide the question and 
select the candidate from the three men before the 
House. 

I was appointed Chairman of the Bacon delegation 
on this committee, but just before the meeting was 
called I received a telegram from home stating that 
my oldest son, Walter, who had the measles, had de¬ 
veloped pneumonia and was in a critical condition, 
and advising me to return to Macon without delay. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


245 


My son had been my bed-fellow from his birth. I 
had watched over him in all his youthful troubles. He 
was only eight years of age and I could not do other¬ 
wise than obey the call. I had already lost a little 
daughter some time before with the same disease, 
and this made me especially uneasy concerning Wal¬ 
ter’s sickness. Mr. Bacon selected his friend, Mr. 
Washington Dessau, from Macon, to take my place 
and I left on the first train. 

I have heard that when the committee of fifteen was 
called together the vote stood six for Bacon and six 
for Boynton with three for McDaniel. This continued 
for several ballots, the door into the hall from the 
committee room standing open. I used to say that if 
I had been present that door would have been closed, 
and if the door had been closed Mr. Bacon would have 
been Governor. 

As it was, after several ballots, one of the Boyn¬ 
ton delegates announced that he would vote for Mr. 
Bacon on the next ballot, thereupon it was agreed that 
part of the McDaniel delegation would also come to 
Mr. Bacon, thus giving him the majority. At this 
critical moment the two leading men managing Judge 
Boynton’s campaign came to the door and stood for 
a moment looking in. They ascertained what move 
was intended and immediately called out the Chairman 
of the McDaniel delegation. It was arranged that 
the delegation should stand firm for McDaniel and 
the Boynton delegation would go over to him, secur¬ 
ing his election. This was done and McDaniel became 
Governor. 

He was elected without opposition and entered up¬ 
on the duties of the office. He proved to be one of 
the clearest-headed, purest and most sagacious states¬ 
men and patriots that ever sat in our Governor’s chair. 
He was a thorough business man and he proved in 
every way the wisdom of the men who elected him. 


246 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


He had an impediment in his speech which at times 
interfered with the free expression of his words in 
conversation, but he could deliver an address without 
difficulty and his judgment of men has never been sur¬ 
passed by any incumbent of the high office which he 
held. 


SENATOR BROWN’S DONATION 

The Chairman of the Finance Committee in this 
Legislature was the Hon. W. A. Little, of Columbus. 
He was an especially strong man and was elected speak¬ 
er at the following Legislature. During my first two 
year’s service Senator Joseph E. Brown made a tender 
to the University of fifty thousand dollars for the ed¬ 
ucation of young men of Georgia and of a portion of 
South Carolina. His tender required the State to is¬ 
sue a bond covering the same and pay interest there¬ 
on for all time. It was the fund afterwards called the 
“Charles McDonald Brown Fund,” in honor of a son 
of the Senator, who had died a short time before. The 
matter was referred to the finance committee and the 
Chairman, afterward Judge Little, opposed the ac¬ 
ceptance of the donation and when the same came into 
the House he and I took opposite sides of the question. 
I made the best speech I could in favor of accepting 
the donation, but Colonel Little was so strong and 
so vigorous in his opposition that he bore everything 
before him and the donation was defeated. 

I felt the defeat very deeply, for I was anxious to 
have the fund turned over to the University under the 
auspices of the State, and I sorrowed that I was un¬ 
able to meet the Chairman and carry the House against 
his opposition. 

Senator Brown accomplished his purpose in another 
way. Having purchased fifty thousand dollars of the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


247 


bonds of the State he turned these over to the Uni¬ 
versity to be refunded under an act of the Legislature 
that existed at that time, the institution receiving a bond 
for fifty thousand dollars at the high interest that the 
State was paying for such refunds, dnd the Trustees 
of the University took charge under the contract to 
carry out the purposes of his gift. 

It has proven to be a very great addition to the Uni¬ 
versity’s resources and has educated scores of young 
men, who would have been deprived of a college train¬ 
ing but for the gift which the Senator had made in 
their behalf. 

REFUNDING OF THE STATE DEBT 

During my service in my second term in the Legis¬ 
lature the first installment of our State debt, amount¬ 
ing to three million dollars, fell due. 

It will be remembered that following the re-con¬ 
struction period, when a Democratic administration 
came into office there was a complete overhauling of 
all our bond issues, which resulted in the repudiation 
of about eleven million dollars issued during the re¬ 
construction period. This repudiation created a fear¬ 
ful prejudice against the State in the money centers 
throughout the country. In New York our bonds 
were driven off the exchanges and declared an unfit 
investment for trust funds or any other funds seeking 
permanent securities. 

Our people were just recovering from the terrible 
depletion following the war and the re-construction 
period and it was known that to attempt to pay these 
bonds in cash would place such a burden upon the 
property of the State that bankruptcy would result in 
almost every quarter. It was the hope, therefore, that 
a new issue of bonds could be sold so as to take up 
the bonds falling due. 


248 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


The settlement of this problem fell upon the Gov¬ 
ernor and the finance committee, of which I was Chair¬ 
man. 

Efforts had been made at a previous time to show 
the justice of the State’s action in making the repudi¬ 
ation- aforesaid, and to this end proceedings were 
brought by the Attorney General of the State in New 
York City to convince the monied interests, and es¬ 
pecially the authorities of the State, that the position 
of our people was absolutely correct in repudiating the 
bonds. Col. N. J. Hammond appeared for the State 
and Henry Clews & Company, who had been heavy 
losers by the repudiation, appeared in opposition. 

While the immediate proceeding was unsuccessful, 
yet the agitation served to bring out the reason that 
had actuated our people and our Legislature, in re¬ 
pudiating the securities, convincing many that the State 
was right in the stand it had taken. Nevertheless, it 
was known that the State would meet the fiercest kind 
of opposition in all the monied centers when the effort 
was made to sell the new issue of bonds. 

Accordingly when the offer was made to sell and 
bids were solicited there was only one offer for the 
issue. This offer was engineered by Mr. Pat Calhoun, 
a prominent lawyer and business man of our State, a 
descendant of the great Calhoun of South Carolina. 
It soon became a question in the State whether Mr. 
Calhoun and his associates would be able to make good 
the offer. 

While the Legislature was in session Mr. Calhoun 
gave notice that a change of the time of delivering the 
bonds would be required if his bid was made good 
and my committee was selected to present a resolution 
giving him sixty days more for completing his bid. The 
State became seriously interested throughout all its 
boundaries and a great deal of speculation was in- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


249 


dulged in concerning the result. I have seen Govern¬ 
or McDaniel pace the floor of his office while con¬ 
sulting about the matter, with the traces of the deep¬ 
est emotion upon his features, the perspiration falling 
from his forehead onto the carpet “in great drops of 
agony,” as we expressed it at the time. 

Mr. Calhoun came to me as Chairman of the Fi¬ 
nance Committee and asked me to have the reso¬ 
lution stretching delivery over sixty days. I agreed, 
and Mr. Adderton, of Sumter, was selected to offer 
it in the House, and the committee, at my earnest re¬ 
quest, recommended it. It passed the House, went to 
the Senate, and there received the requisite vote and 
was adopted. It reads as follows: 

RESOLUTION 

Providing for delivery of new four and a half per 
cent Bonds. 

Resolved by the General Assembly of the State of Georgia, 
That the Governor be, and he is hereby authorized to deliver 
to the purchasers at any time after January I, 1886, all, or any 
part of the new four and a half per cent bonds, maturing in 
1886; he may pay the holders of the bonds maturing in 1886, 
surrendering tffem before maturity, the difference in the 
rate of interest they bear and that borne by the new bonds: 
Provided, however, the early delivery of the new bonds and 
the payment before maturity of the old bonds shall entail no 
greater expense upon the State than that contemplated in the 
present contract for the sale of said new bonds: Provided 
further, that on said delivery of the four and a half per cent 
bonds and the payment of the difference in interest, an equa¬ 
tion of principal and the interest in both classes of bonds shall 
be made so that the amount paid by the State, either in the 
delivery of the four and a half per cent bonds or in the payment 
of the difference in interest, and the interest on said interest 


250 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


shall be equal to the amount of the principal and interest sev¬ 
erally due on said surrendered bonds at the time of the ma¬ 
turity of the same, and not in excess thereof. 

Resolved further, That to enable the Governor to ascertain 
which holders of the old bonds will surrender them before 
maturity, and to effect their early and prompt payment he 
may advertise his readiness to pay them before maturity and 
the terms on which they will be paid if presented before ma¬ 
turity in such manner as he may deem to the best interest of 
the State. 

Approved October 13, 1885. 

Mr. Calhoun said afterwards that I had done more 
for the State in taking this risk, which the Governor 
himself had passed over to me, than any man who had 
ever dealt in her financial matters up to that time. 
I had, of course, accepted all responsibility for the 
proceeding, and granting the extension. 

The whole State was on tenter hooks, expecting and 
yet dreading the worst. I remember on the morning 
when the time had expired for making the bid good 
and the word had come by telegraph that the issue was 
accepted and the money was paid, I went into the Su¬ 
preme Court room, expecting some matter about which 
I was concerned to come up for a hearing. As I passed 
through the door Judge Jackson, who was presiding, 
stopped the proceedings and said to me: “What news 
about the bonds, Mr. Harris?” 

I replied, “The bonds have been accepted and the 
money has been paid.” 

Then Judge Jackson came down with his hand heav¬ 
ily upon the desk and said in a loud voice, “Thank God 
for that! The State’s honor is saved.” 

And it was so. The State was saved. There was 
never any further trouble with her finances. Her credit 
steadily advanced. All claims against her were prompt¬ 
ly paid and her position throughout the country was 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


251 


recognized as in the front rank. In fact her bonds 
some time afterwards sold higher than those of any 
other state in the Union, except one or two. 

RAILROAD MATTERS 

Some time within my four years’ term in the Leg¬ 
islature, I took up and revived the charter of the Cov¬ 
ington & Macon Railroad Company. 

This road was intended to run from Macon to Cov¬ 
ington on the Georgia Railroad,’ thereby affording 
another route to Atlanta as well as to regions round 
about Covington. 

The Company was organized in Macon under the 
renewed charter and Col. Lon Livingston was elected 
President, with a full board of directors of which I was 
a member. I was also given the position of General 
Counsel for the road and was expected to advise both 
the corporation and the contractor. 

Col. E. C. Machen, of Kentucky and New York, 
undertook the work of building the road and a con¬ 
tract was made with him giving him the bonds of the 
company at the rate of about five thousand dollars 
per mile. Mr. Machen was the son of a Kentucky 
Congressman, who was then serving in Washington. 
Through his father he secured an introduction to Gen¬ 
eral John B. Gordon, who was then Governor of Geor¬ 
gia, and with this recommendation came to the State 
and undertook the work of building a railroad. It 
was said of him in Harper’s Magazine, that when he 
commenced his work his sole resources were a “side 
of meat and a box of crackers.” He was introduced 
to me by Col. Livingston and it was at his request 
that I revived the charter of the road. At the time 
of doing the legislative work I had no idea that I 
would ever have any connection with the road. It 


252 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


was an act growing out of purely legislative duties, 
as both Col. Livingston and Mr. Machen had asked 
me to introduce the bill and carry it through both 
Houses, which I did. 

Sometime after the Legislature had adjourned the 
organization of the company was effected and I was 
selected, as before stated, to aid in the work. The 
ceremony of driving the first spike took place in Macon 
when I was not present. By some means a silver spike 
was obtained and the citizens gathered around to wit¬ 
ness the ceremony. It was driven by Mr. Machen and 
the address was made by Col. Livingston. 

I grew very much attached to Mr. Machen and 
aided him throughout all his building projects in the 
State. He had been in the Confederate service and 
while on a gun boat below Richmond, had received a 
severe wound in the head. The bullet penetrated the 
back portion of the brain, cutting through the bone 
and allowing the escape of both blood and brains. It 
was stated that he was carried in a swing in the hos¬ 
pital for some considerable time, being near to death’s 
door. I always thought that the wound had a consti¬ 
tutional effect upon him, interfering in some measure 
with his judgment and heightening his general circu¬ 
lation. He was quick and irritable, but withal a man 
of wonderful resources, untiring energy, and sleep¬ 
less vigilance. 

I may say here that after finishing the road to 
Athens, which was the original Covington & Macon, 
the Northern terminus having been changed, he also 
built the Middle Georgia & Atlantic road, running 
from Porterdale to Eatonton, and crossing the Macon 
& Northern at Machen. 

He also started a road from Macon to a terminus 
on the Florida coast, leading out from Macon through 
Twiggs County and following a southern direction to 
the port. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


253 


In all these matters I was his general counsel. Hav¬ 
ing no resources from the outside, and being dependent 
entirely on the monies raised from subscriptions and the 
sale of mortgage bonds on the roads as they progress¬ 
ed, he was in constant trouble with the creditors and 
people along the line of the road. On the Macon & 
Northern alone I was compelled to defend some four 
hundred and fifty common law cases and fifty-two ap¬ 
plications for injunction and receiver. 

I used to tell him that there had been a law-suit for 
every rail he laid down between Athens and Macon. 
The road was also subject to a criticism by outsiders 
to the effect that it was so crooked that in many cases 
when turning some of the curves, “the conductor could 
shake hands with the engineer and get a chew of to¬ 
bacco.” This, of course, was exaggerated, but the 
road was undoubtedly lengthened some eighteen to 
twenty miles by the many curves between the two cities. 
Mr. Machen used to reply that these curves were earn¬ 
ing money for the road, for the mileage determined 
the freight and passenger tariff. 

Mr. Machen had associated with him a lady from 
New York, Mrs. H. S. Gould- She was a woman of 
considerable business talent and for some time super¬ 
intended the railroad hands engaged in work on the 
road. She directed them, acting as overseer, super¬ 
intendent and general agent of the contractor. She 
frequently paid off the hands, discharged some and 
hired others, as became necessary and looked after 
the work of construction, for days and months sleep¬ 
ing in the camps or in the houses of the neighbors 
nearby. Her business ability showing every day com¬ 
manded the respect of every laborer and sub-con¬ 
tractor engaged in the work. She wrote out a very 
interesting history of her adventures which she had 
intended to publish but her death prevented. 


254 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


The building of this road had presented many at¬ 
tractive features. The methods pursued by Mr. Mach- 
en were absolutely new to our country, and while af¬ 
fording many grounds of complaint it caused consider¬ 
able rejoicing among the people affected by the open¬ 
ing of the country to new lines of transportation. 

The difficulties of the situation multiplied so rap¬ 
idly that when the road reached Monticello, about 
forty miles above Macon, it was put into the hands 
of a receiver; its general officers were all enjoined, and 
Mr. Machen left it, broken down in body and almost 
ready to give up the ghost. He took a trip to Eu¬ 
rope for the purpose of recruiting his health. During 
his absence the litigation was continued so that several 
months passed with no final decree being granted. The 
defense in all this litigation was under my charge. At 
the end of less than six months Mr. Machen returned 
and, having made some arrangement to raise money in 
New York City, began to settle the indebtedness that 
had been urged against the road in the equity proceed¬ 
ing for receivership. This task was accomplished and 
a new issue of bonds began to be sold. These bonds 
were taken by Alexander Brown & Son, an old pre- 
Revolutionary banking firm, operating in Baltimore, 
possessed of unlimited credit and wide business con¬ 
nections. The parent house was located in Baltimore 
with branches in New York, Philadelphia and in Lon¬ 
don. The head of the house came down to Macon 
to look into the business and gather information con¬ 
cerning the character and prospects of the enterprise. 
The financial arrangements had been made by young 
Alexander Brown, who was just coming of age and was 
anxious to do something on his own responsibility for 
the good of his firm. The result was the visit of his 
father, above referred to. 

I think the father was satisfied with his examination, 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


255 


but unfortunately he caught a severe cold at the La¬ 
nier House, which held on after his return to Balti¬ 
more and finally resulted in his death. Young Mr. 
Brown continued the enterprise and took the bonds 
which enabled Col. Machen to complete the road. 

While the building of the road was going forward 
I was taken with a severe illness which resulted in an 
ulcerated colon and required an operation, to which 
I have referred in previous parts of these reminis¬ 
cences. 

Dr. Westmoreland, who performed the operation, 
advised me to go back to East Tennessee, stating that 
when a man has gone down to the last extremity he 
always liked to send him back to the place where he 
was born. 

The contractor who was building the Atlanta & 
Florida road was stricken at this time with the same 
character of disease and he died in spite of all that 
could be done. 

I had dreamed that there was a spring, with which 
Captain A. V. Deaderick was in some way connected, 
near my old home where I was born, and that it would 
be advantageous to me if I could go there. When I 
reached Jonesboro I made inquiry about such a spring 
and found out that Captain Deaderick was then in 
possession of what was called the “Unaka Spring,” 
some twenty miles southeast of Johnson City, and not 
more than fifteen miles from my old home. I went 
to the spring, found that the report was correct; met 
my old friend, Capt. Deaderick; stayed with him for 
some two months, drinking the chalybeate water, and 
.resting in a recumbent position as long as I stayed 
with him. 

While I was at the springs, Colonel Machen, hav¬ 
ing struck against a rock and being unable to see his 
way over or around it, made a journey to the moun- 


256 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


tains to consult with me. The hotel, or “caravan- 
sarie,” as I then called it, was located on the far side 
of the Nola Chucky river. There was a heavy flood 
on the river when Col. Machen came to see me; there 
was no bridge and no one on the shore who was will¬ 
ing to undertake the bringing of a boat across the 
river. Col. Machen had called out to ask if I was at 
the hotel and he tried to get some one to ferry him 
across. In this he was unsuccessful, and after look¬ 
ing over the situation he loosed a small boat from 
the shore, jumped in, and began to row across. The 
water was very swift, and the frail vessel was dashed 
far down below the hotel in spite of all that Col. 
Machen could do, but he kept rowing with all his 
might and finally came to land. He was kind enough 
to say to me, when he came up, that he couldn’t get 
along without me and had been compelled to come to 
see me for advice. He stayed with me for several days 
and until the river fell and then went back home, with 
the best advice that I could give him. At any rate 
nothing suffered from my absence. 

The hotel where I stayed was built largely of poles 
and plank set upright and was in a region far off from 
mails and transportation, so I used to think it was a 
very bold undertaking on the part of Col. Machen to 
visit me under such circumstances. 

Since then the hotel has been rebuilt and has be¬ 
come a splendid summer resort. 

My son, Walter, was with me in this far away es¬ 
tablishment, which was encircled by the mountains on 
three sides and by the river on the fourth. He waited 
on me during my sickness. 

At the end of two months I went back to Atlanta 
and had myself examined. I saw a smile light up the 
doctor’s countenance when he had finished the work 
and he told me that I was well and could go back to 
the office. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


257 


I wondered at this result several times afterwards. 
The spring saved my life and I can never express the 
gratitude that I have felt towards Mr. Deaderick and 
his devoted wife, for their care and attention to me 
when I so closely faced the other world. 

I went back to the spring once in a private car that 
I had purchased for use in railroad operations. I took 
with me the children, but my wife did not go. The 
car was parked on the side of the river opposite the 
hotel, the railroad ending then at that point. A 
trestle ran out along the bank of the river for some 
distance beyond where the car was parked. A slight 
rain came up wetting the trestle and rendering it es¬ 
pecially slippery. My son, John, who was then, I 
think, about five or six years old, hearing me as I came 
across from the hotel and approached the car, ran out 
on the trestle and when exactly over the awful rocks 
below, his feet slipped from under him and he fell 
some twenty feet down to the rocks. The porter and 
I, and all the children rushed to where he had fallen, 
lifted him up unconscious. I remember the horror 
that came over me as I held him in my arms, when I 
thought of carrying him back in a coffin to his mother. 

The porter took him out of my arms, a moment 
afterwards and said: “Colonel, he is not dead, he will 
come to, don’t be worried, he will come to.” We car¬ 
ried him up the bank and put him on his bed in the 
car, bathing his head in cold water and rubbing him 
with cloths, and sure enough after a short while he 
came back to life. Of course, his first sensation was 
one of deathly sickness. One young man, whose name 
I will always remember, came up to me and said that 
he would walk to Erwin, some four miles away, and 
bring a doctor as soon as possible. He was General 
Wilder’s grandson. 

When the doctor reached us he found that no bones 


258 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


were broken and that a miracle had been wrought in 
some way that saved the boy’s life. He recovered in 
a short while, so as to be able to sit up and take 
nourishment. I then went down to the place where 
he had fallen to ascertain how he had escaped with 
his life or without a mortal injury. He had plunged 
headforemost down towards the rocks, but it seemed 
that when more than half way down he had struck 
against an intervening brace of the trestle that was 
made of a pine sapling and the bark had given away 
and slid down the pole or brace with him, until it 
had reached the rocks at its foot. This broke his fall 
and saved his life. 

It was Saturday and on the next day Dr. David 
Sullins, one of the greatest preachers of the Metho¬ 
dist Church, who was staying at the Springs, delivered 
an address on the Ways of Providence, and the mir¬ 
acles wrought to save life, referring for illustration 
to John’s fall. 

FINISHING THE ROAD 

The road was completed to Athens some time in 
1889 and opened for traffic and business. 

Colonel Jack Jones was elected President of the 
road and I was continued as Director and General 
Counsel. By this time Mr. Brown had taken up all 
the outstanding bonds and as the new bonds carried 
the stock of the road, he became, in fact, the owner 
of the enterprise. 

I went up to Baltimore several times to consult with 
him and he took me out to his beautiful country resi¬ 
dence, caled “Mondaubin,” some three or four miles 
from Baltimore. He treated me with great kind¬ 
ness and I became much attached to him. He had 
married a beautiful wife, who spent her summers at 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


259 


Newport, Mr. Brown visiting her at intervals, while 
he kept up the great business of the banking house. 
He was always very courteous to me and stopped at 
my home in Macon when he visited me. 

After we had run the railroad for some time,, he 
concluded to try to sell it to one of the great trunk 
lines. His bank was the financial agent of the Sea¬ 
board Air Line Railroad Company, and he had al¬ 
ways declared that the Macon & Northern was built 
to constitute a link between Macon and Portsmouth. 
When he determined to try to sell the property, he 
called on the President of the Seaboard Air Line and 
tendered him the road. The result was a complete 
freeze out. The President offered him so small a 
figure for the property that his loss would have been 
almost one-half what he had put into it. He told me 
of his great disappointment and proposed to pay me 
twenty-five thousand dollars in cash, if I would take 
the matter in hand and sell the property to the West 
Point Terminal Company or the Richmond and Dan- 
vile Railroad Company. I agreed to make trial of 
the piatter went to New York and called on Col. Pat 
Calhoun, who had an office at 61 Broadway. 

I knew, of course, that Mr. John Inman was Pres¬ 
ident of this system of railroads and that he would de¬ 
cide the question of purchase. Mr. Calhoun told me 
that he would decide the question of purchase. Mr. 
Calhoun told me that Mr. Inman was one of the hard¬ 
est men in New York to deal with; that his will was 
like iron and his heart like flint and he, Mr. Calhoun, 
didn’t believe that I could ever succeed in selling the 
road to him. I determined to try anyhow, and Mr. 
Calhoun carried me into Mr. Inman’s office and intro¬ 
duced me. I found Mr. Inman slightly deaf and I had 
to talk very loud to him. 


260 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


When I told him my business and offered to sell him 
the road, he rejected the proposition shortly, quickly 
and decisively, saying that he did not want the road, 
didn’t need it and wouldn’t take it as a gift. I told him I 
would sell it to the Seaboard Air Line if he did not 
take it, as this was the only resource left. He re¬ 
plied: “Let the Seaboard have it. I don’t want it. 
The Seaboard ought to have it.” Then he looked in 
my face and asked me a question. He said: “Where 
did you come from?” I told him that I was born in 
East Tennessee, in Washington County. He replied, 
“Who were your people in East Tennessee?” Then 
I mentioned the name of my father and some of my 
mother’s people, among others, Landon C. Haynes 
and N. G. Taylor. 

I went on and stated that I was named after Col. 
Nat Taylor, that I knew Mr. Alfred Taylor, who had 
married Mr. Inman’s half sister, a Miss Hamilton. I 
saw his face light up when I began to talk about my 
kinpeople, and I determined to make one last strong 
appeal to him. 

I said: “Mr. Inman, you left East Tennessee at the 
same time that I did and for the same reason. You 
were a Confederate soldier, and so was I. You crossed 
the Brooklyn bridge with seventy-five cents in your 
packet and have since made twenty millions in a fi¬ 
nancial contest with these great commercial captains of 
industry. I went to Georgia and have been grinding 
my face against the hard stones in that State, accu¬ 
mulating little, hardly making ends meet at times, but 
always ambitious to do something to make up for the 
property that we left behind in Tennessee. If I can 
sell this road I can make twenty-five thousand dollars. 
Can’t you help me, and won’t you do it? I know very 
well you ought to have the road. I know very well 
that it is necessary to your system, and I want you to 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


261 


buy it and help out a fellow countryman for the sake 
of all you have felt and known in our common exile.” 

I saw his eyes glisten and something like a film come 
over them. I had found his weak place—a love .for 
his ancestry and his people. He bade me come back 
next day, and then to the utter astonishment of Mr. 
Calhoun, who was his legal adviser, he directed that 
the papers be prepared and the road taken over into 
his vast aggregation. 

Mr. Brown paid me the twenty-five thousand dol¬ 
lars, which I divided with my partners, Messrs. Hill 
& Birch. 

I took part in the building of five railroads for 
Georgia. Three of these were projected and carried 
on by Col. E. C. Machen, who after completing the 
Macon & Northern, commenced two others; the Mid¬ 
dle Georgia & Atlantic, to which I have referred, and 
the Brunswick & Birmingham. The Middle Georgia 
& Atlantic running from Porterdale to Eatonton is 
now a part of the Central of Georgia Railway. The 
Brunswick & Birmingham road, running from Bruns¬ 
wick north, he never completed, but is now a part of 
the Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic Railroad, which 
runs through the State, completing the connection be¬ 
tween Brunswick and Birmingham, Alabama. 

The other two roads, in the building of which I 
took part, were the Empire & Dublin, running from 
Hawkinsville to Dublin, now a part of the Wrights- 
ville & Tennille, and the Tifton, Thomasville & Gulf 
road, running from Tifton to Thomasville, now a part 
of the Atlanta, Birmingham & Atlantic road. These 
two roads were laid out and built under the direction 
and supervision of Capt. J. W. Hightower. I was a 
director in each of the roads and general counsel. 
Captain Hightower was a prominent and distinguish¬ 
ed saw mill operator, doing business in the country 


262 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


south of Macon, on what is now the Southern Railway 
running to Brunswick. 

Outside of the Dodge interests, he owned the larg¬ 
est saw mill in the State. The output reached one hun¬ 
dred and twenty-five thousand feet of lumber per day, 
so that he did a vast business with builders and con¬ 
tractors throughout the State and elsewhere. 

I loved and admired John Hightower and was al¬ 
ways pleased to call him my friend. He lost money 
and so did I now and then, but he never violated faith 
or forgot his duty to a friend. He is dead now and 
his death took from my side one of the kindest and 
best men that I have ever dealt with. 

The five railroads to which I have referred are all 
still working for the people of Georgia, but have 
formed no prominent part in her great lines of trans¬ 
portation. 

After the Macon & Northern was taken over by'the 
Central & Richmond & Danville roads, parts of these 
lines were put into a receiver’s hands by Judge Emory 
Speer of the United States court. The owners of the 
roads were not satisfied that the facts justified the 
seizure, but the court’s orders were never reversed 
and the roads were administered through the United 
States Court. 

At an early date after the receiver had been ap¬ 
pointed, an application was made to Judge Speer to 
separate the Macon & Northern receivership from that 
of the Central road. This application was presented 
by Alexander Brown & Son, who were, as stated above, 
owners of the majority of the stock and all the bonds 
of the company. The court granted the application 
and appointed me receiver to take charge of, oper¬ 
ate and administer the property. 

Mr. H. M. Comer, at that time was the receiver 
of the Central, and I remember a characteristic inter- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


263 


view when I went to him to demand possession of the 
Macon & Northern. I showed him the order appoint¬ 
ing me receiver and directing him to turn over the 
property to me. He said: “I already have a copy of 
the order and you could have saved at least a dollar 
and a half if you hadn’t taken this additional copy and 
had it certified. We must be economical in running 
these railroads, and this dollar and a half will be 
charged to my receivership.” 

While Mr. Comer was economical, he was a man of 
the strictest honesty and probity, a splendid gentle¬ 
man of the old school, and deserving to he listed in 
the forefront of Georgia’s most successful business 
men. 

I told him once in the course of our relations together 
in the courts, that I looked on him for advice and en¬ 
couragement just as if he were my father. To this he 
quickly replied: “No, don’t put it that way, say ‘broth¬ 
er,’ for I am not old enough to be your father.” I re¬ 
plied that I would be willing to pattern after him and 
take his advice and that I felt towards him even nearer 
than a brother. He treated me with fairness, with 
kindness, and showed exceptional fidelity in all the re¬ 
quirements of an honest railroad business. When he 
died I felt that I had lost one of the strongest friends 
that I had ever known. 

I have never had any man in business treat me with 
more kindness, show me more favors, or aid me in 
the performance of the duties that had fallen to my 
lot in the management of a railroad. 

I operated the Macon & Northern Railroad under 
the receivership for very nearly four years, attending 
to all its business, taking care of its interests, and look¬ 
ing after its welfare under the direction of the court. 

When the case went to a decree and the road was 
sold, it was bought in by the firm of Alexander Brown 


264 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


& Son, under the mortgage bonds. Its name was 
changed to the Macon & Northern Railway Company. 
New stock was issued and I was elected president un¬ 
der the first organization. Sometime afterwards a 
new organization was had and Alexander Brown was 
made President, while I was continued in immediate 
control, as Vice-President in Georgia. 

I was proceeding to wind up the business of the re¬ 
ceivership and bring it to an end with as little expense 
as possible when Judge Speer, learning of the new 
arrangement, and without any notice whatever, re¬ 
moved me from the receivership and appointed his 
friend, Major William Henry Ross, receiver in my 
stead, to complete the business of the court. Major 
Ross looked into the matter and seeing there was very 
little left for him to do, and in fact, I think, recog¬ 
nizing fully that there was no need for such a receiver, 
resigned the place, whereupon the judge appointed an¬ 
other person to whom I turned over the records and 
claims of the receivership. 

Undoubtedly the court took offense because I had 
accepted the presidency of the road without consult¬ 
ing him. He treated it as an act of insubordination 
and hence he dealt with it summarily, without any no¬ 
tice whatever to me. He went further than this. He 
appointed the District Attorney as an auditor to ex¬ 
amine all my accounts, although the reports had been 
regularly made and regularly approved up to the 
time of his second appointment of a successor. 

He did more. He directed the District Attorney 
to examine the accounts with special regard to the 
payment of rebates and ascertain and report to him 
whether any such had been paid during my administra¬ 
tion. This was at a time when rebates were com¬ 
mon, and one distinguished railroad man discussing 
these matters said: “No successful railroad manager 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


265 


can carry on his work with any kind of regard for the 
welfare of his company without taking the risk of the 
penitentiary every day of his life.” 

I think Judge Speer had determined to have the 
District Attorney proceed against me in the criminal 
courts, if he had found any rebates. One great man, 
who was running a railroad at the time, opened his 
side book to me one day and said: “Mr. Harris, I have 
paid $659,000.00 in rebates within the last three years 
while running my railroad.” The court wanted to make 
an example ,out of me that would become famous. 

It can be easily understood that I was in great sus¬ 
pense while this investigation was going on. I was 
sure that money had been paid for rebates, but this 
had been done without my knowledge or concur¬ 
rence, all such matters going through the traffic de¬ 
partment. It has always been cause of congratulation 
on my part that no employee was found to even hint to 
the District Attorney that a rebate had been paid. The 
body of men that I gathered together to run the Macon 
& Northern never had an equal, I think, in all the an¬ 
nals of railroad management, so far as loyalty and fi¬ 
delity to the head was concerned. 

Nearly all have gone elsewhere, but wherever they 
have gone, they carried with them my gratitude and 
unchanging appreciation. 

One or two occurrences I might record here showing 
my regard for “my boys,” as I called them. 

One of the engineers running between Macon and 
Athens went out to the latter city and became greatly 
intoxicated, subjecting himself to the worst sort of 
criticism. My Superintendent, Mr. Hoge, promptly 
discharged the man for said he: “While we are not 
running a Sunday school, yet the fact that this man be¬ 
came intoxicated in public, putting the world on notice 
that he was addicted to this habit, requires us, in taking 


266 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


care of the property, to discharge him.” Of course 
I approved the action. 

About ten days after the discharge I was sitting in 
my office when a tall gentleman, utterly unknown to 
me, came through the door. As he walked in he said: 
“Is this Col. Harris’ office?” I replied, “Yes, Sir, 
this is the man.” 

He immediately came forward and standing be¬ 
fore me said: “Col. Harris, you discharged me a few 
days ago from the railroad and I have come to ask 
you to give me back my place.” With this he fell on 
his knees and stretching out his hand said, while the 
tears ran down his cheeks, “Col. Harris, I have nine 
reasons why you should give me back this place. I 
have nine little children. The oldest is a girl only 
thirteen years of age. I have never done anything 
but work on a railroad locomotive* and I can’t do any¬ 
thing else. If you will give me back my place, so that 
I can make bread for my children, I promise you that 
if I ever get into trouble again I will not wait for you 
to discharge me. You will not have to do so, for I 
will quit of my own accord. Won’t you do this for 
me, Col. Harris?” 

By this time my own sight had grown misty. I reach¬ 
ed forward and took his hand and said: “Get up, 
Moore, get up, I am going to give you your place 
back. Go and tell Mr. Hoge to put you on the en¬ 
gine, even if it breaks the railroad. You shall have 
another trial.” 

He worked for six months without any trouble, and 
then one day yielded to his weakness, broke an eccen¬ 
tric, punched a hole in the boiler, and left his train 
standing dead on the track. But I didn’t have to dis¬ 
charge him. He kept his word and quit. 

The District Attorney after carefully and laborious¬ 
ly going over the entire accounts of the receivership 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


267 


passed them all without filing exception save one small 
voucher for expenses of the receiver. The accounts, 
as I remember, amounted to some six hundred thou¬ 
sand dollars a year and the receivership had lasted 
about four years. 

I was glad indeed to pay back the small sum that 
was charged against me. It grew out of visits to Bal¬ 
timore to confer with Mr. Brown, and while it was 
in fact chargeable against the estate should have been 
allowed as a credit by the court upon application. It 
was less than two hundred dollars. 

I will always feel grateful to Mr. Erwin that he did 
not lend himself to the effort of Judge Speer to have 
me arraigned concerning matters of which I was ut¬ 
terly ignorant and as innocent as a new born babe, if 
any such matters existed. 

Mr. Erwin soon afterwards left Macon; went into 
business in New York, and did very well in his more 
enlarged sphere. He was well educated and some time 
since I received from him a copy of a very interest¬ 
ing scientific work that he had written and published 
while in New York. He has recently died at his home 
in that city. 

I continued operating the road for about six months 
longer when Mr. Brown sold it to the Central of 
Georgia Railway Company, and that company has 
operated it to the present time as a part of its system. 

The Central was kind enough to continue my firm 
as Division Counsel of the road from Macon to Ath¬ 
ens, and we have held that place to the time of this 
writing. 

I am not giving a history of the Macon & Northern 
road. If I were to start out to do this there would 
be more space taken than will be covered by this en¬ 
tire volume. The building alone was a chapter in 
railroad business without parallel in our modern days. 


268 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


It is now working in good order as a division of the 
Central and I hope is making money, at least Mr. 
Brown sold his bonds to advantage and saved himself 
from serious loss in this, his first railroad venture. I 
am still a director and Vice-President of the corpora¬ 
tion and would be entitled to take charge perhaps if 
the Central should ever give up the road. 

MAJ. J. F. HANSON AND HIS CAREER 

There was one man with whom I was associated in 
business more or less during my entire railroad oper¬ 
ations, Maj. J. F. Hanson. 

Major Hanson was born near Barnesville and 
at an early date came to Macon, entering into busi¬ 
ness with the Bibb. Manufacturing Company. He was 
first a cotton buyer and gradually rose from one posi¬ 
tion to another until he became General Superintend¬ 
ent and Manager of the great corporation above stated. 
The man who enabled him to rise through all his ca¬ 
reer with the cotton company was H. M. Comer, of 
Savannah. Mr. Comer was the owner of a majority 
of the stock and was President of the corporation. He 
was Mr. Hanson’s benefactor from the beginning of 
his business career until the end of his, Mr. Comer’s 
life. 

Mr. Hanson, as I have before stated in these remi¬ 
niscences, was first to suggest to me the idea of estab¬ 
lishing a technological school for Georgia. Through 
his connection with the railroads, which connection he 
owed largely, if not entirely, to Mr. Comer, he became 
the owner of The Macon Telegraph and when I de¬ 
cided to run for the Legislature in order to carry out 
the purpose I had conceived touching the school afore¬ 
said, he put The Telegraph squarely behind me. 

Its course was followed by a large number of the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


269 


other newspapers of the State and in this way con¬ 
tributed greatly to keeping up the interest in the mat¬ 
ter throughout the country at large. He aided me 
in my first election, carrying his employees by a large 
majority to me in the election. 

In my second election he also supported me, but at 
that time his influence had decreased largely in the 
city and with his own people. Nevertheless, I still 
led the ticket and The Telegraph still stood by the 
cause for which I was fighting. 

Mr. Hanson used to call on me at my home fre¬ 
quently. We would take long walks together, dis¬ 
cussing men and measures. He was high tariff in his 
views and soon began to be classed as a Republican. 
He was one of the most determined men I have ever 
met in all my career, either in business or in politics. 
No consideration of friendship could sway him from 
his purpose and no sense of obligation ever weighed 
with him for one moment. Yet he was a man of splen¬ 
did intellect and wonderful business capacity. 

After the school had been established he took no 
further interest in it, save to inquire now and then 
concerning its prospects and possibilities. He deliver¬ 
ed the commencement address one year. Dr. Hop¬ 
kins was very much devoted to him and to a certain 
degree shared his opinions. 

One event will show how little appreciation Mr. 
Hanson had for a friend: 

A suit was brought against the Southern Railway 
Company to cancel its purchase of the Georgia South¬ 
ern. This suit was begun in the Federal Court in 
Macon, with the best local attorneys that the City af¬ 
forded and with some of the best citizens in the town 
for complainants. 

Our people, the Southern, employed Hoke Smith 
and Senator Edmunds of Vermont, for the defense. 


270 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


My firm, likewise, of course, was counsel. We pre¬ 
pared the papers for the defense and when the hear¬ 
ing came up before the court I was put forward to 
lead in the defense. We had filed demurrers, answers, 
etc. The arguments came on and I opened. After a 
short discussion something occurred to put the case 
over and the parties plaintiff afterwards dismissed it. 

When we were through and the judgment had been 
taken disposing of the case in our favor, Mr. Spencer 
said to me: “Now, Harris, what can I do for you? 
We have succeeded in this case and we have done well. 
What reward can I give you? What do you want?” 
I replied, “Nothing for myself, Mr. Spencer. If you 
will appoint Major Hanson president of the Central 
road it will be all the compensation that I ask.” Mr. 
Spencer replied: “I do not know that I have the power 
to do this.” I said: “I know that you have, and I want 
you to do so.” He went North. I had never asked 
him to do anything up to this time that he had re¬ 
fused. A few days after his return to Washington 
he wrote me that he could not give Mr. Hanson the 
presidency at that time, but would make him Chairman 
of the Board, which, he said, was a higher place than 
the presidency. 

Mr. Hanson evidently imagined that I had too much 
influence with Mr. Spencer, and began a steady effort 
to destroy that influence, coming in between Mr. Spen¬ 
cer and me wherever he could do so, in the management 
of the two great properties of which I was subordi¬ 
nate counsel. Mr. Spencer told me of some of the 
things he said, but assured me that he understood Mr. 
Hanson and would never let anything he said inter¬ 
fere with our friendship or his trust in me. He never 
wavered in this, but was my friend until the last of 
his life. 

I came very nearly being killed on the same train 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


271 


with him. Something had occurred about which I 
wished to consult him and I telegraphed him to know 
if I could see him on Wednesday before Thanksgiv¬ 
ing, naming the date. He telegraphed me that he was 
going to North Carolina to spend Thanksgiving on a 
hunting trip, and asked me to come up and go with 
him. The telegram was sent by the Western Union 
and by some strange happening was never delivered 
to me till after the time had passed, so that I did not 
go. I have often said that I would never find fault 
with the Western Union for failing to deliver a tele¬ 
gram, for the failure in this case saved my life. If I 
had received the telegram in time to reach him by 
Wednesday before Thanksgiving I would have been 
on the private car with him and every one on it was kill¬ 
ed except one person, who was injured for life. The 
awful accident occurred at Lawyers, near Lynchburg, 
where his train had stopped for some purpose, and 
his car being behind, was run into by one of the fast 
trains and utterly demolished, killing him instantly. 
His stenographer was also killed and one other per¬ 
son injured. I would have been sleeping in the rear 
section of the car, as that was reserved for guests. 

My next telegram from Washington urged me to 
come to Mr. Spencer’s funeral, which I did. 

We were in college together, though he graduated 
the year before I did. I shall always feel that a great 
railroad prince left the earth when he was killed. 

President Roosevelt once said of him, after listen¬ 
ing to an appeal in behalf of the railroads: 

“He has a small head, but my God, what brains 
he carries in it 1” 

Mr. Hanson did not make a success, generally speak¬ 
ing, as President of the Central. While his strong 
will power and his vigorous intellect fitted him for 
command, yet it seemed to me that he lacked the knowl- 


272 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


edge of the practical details necessary to manage a 
great railroad system. 

It was thought by many of his friends that his mind 
failed him somewhat toward the end and that he was** 
not quite at himself, but lost the grip on men and things 
that he had held in former days. 

A RAINY NEW YEAR’S MONODY 
The following verses were written while the in¬ 
tention to give up politics was still strong in my bosom. 
It discloses the reflections of a man whose ambition 
had been blighted and who sees many persons going 
forward to gather the honors that might have fallen 
to him but for his unwillingness to attempt to rise 
higher in the scale of political fortune. 

These lines were never acknowledged before, as I 
have always felt it out of place for a lawyer to write 
verses, though there have been several good examples 
to the contrary: 

O’er the earth falls the gloom like a curtain for a bier, 

And the light wavers dim as a rainbow in a tear; 

There is nothing to rejoice for the Old Year is dead 
And the new has come in tears with its drapery overhead. 

I sit in the gloom, will the shadows never rise? 

And the light guild the clouds—paint a glory in the skies? 

What hath life promised me? Still I wander in the dark, 
Losing time, losing hope, missing still the shining mark. 

Soon the rain storm will pass for the clouds will break away 
And the sun will restore all the splendor of the day, 

But the heart that is crushed with the burden of its pain 

Will never know the glory of its banished hopes again. 

So I stand in the mist like a spectre .in a shroud, 

Till the light struggles down from a rift within the cloud; 

And I see far ahead all the winners rushing by, 

They have wrought with might and main and their goal ap¬ 
proaches nigh. 

Not for me is the wreath—let the chaplet and the crown 
Be the prize of the swif.t in the struggle for renown, 

I’ll fill a lower place, hold a candle to the sun, 

Till God’s messengers announce that my lowly work is done. 
1888. From Macon Telegraph. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


273 


CHURCH MATTERS AND GENERAL 
CONFERENCE 

I have been a member of Mulberry Street M. E. 
Church, South, since June, 1873. I was at one time Su¬ 
perintendent of the Sunday School, in connection with 
my old friend, W. R. Rogers. We worked very vigor¬ 
ously to build the Sunday School up and it reached 
500 on the Sunday before Dr. Monk left its pastorate. 
He had been sent to another charge after four years 
with us and we telegraphed the news to him. 

Dr. Pinson, who succeeded him, concluded to make 
a change in the Superintendency and at the quarterly 
conference following his installation as Pastor, he had 
Mr. Rogers dropped and elected in his place Mr. O. 
A. Park, a young attorney of the city, who has since 
achieved great distinction. I was not at the confer¬ 
ence when this was done, and believing that it was 
evidence of a desire to change in my case also, I re¬ 
signed the Superintendency. Mr. Park has continued 
Superintendent until the present day. 

During this time, and throughout most of my res¬ 
idence in Macon, I officiated as one of the teachers 
in the Sunday School, addressing the auditorium class 
every Sunday. At one time during an interval I 
taught the auditorium class at First Street Church. 
This was because the church was in debt and I want¬ 
ed to aid in the lifting of a mortgage that I had drawn 
for the authorities of the church. I made a subscrip¬ 
tion accordingly and took over the auditorium class. 
This relation continued until the debt was paid and 
I again came back to Mulberry. I also spoke regu¬ 
larly to the auditorium class at. Centenary, the Sun¬ 
day School in that church meeting in the afternoons. 
This class grew until at times there was left little 
room in the church. 


274 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


I was elected First Alternate to the General Con¬ 
ference in 1898, which met at Baltimore. Judge Sam 
Adams, one of the delegates, did not attend and I 
took his place on the second day of the Conference. 
At this conference Bishops Candler and Morrison were -- 
elected. 

One funny thing occurred. It seems that on the first 
day of the Conference the presiding Bishop called on 
all the Conference to pledge themselves by rising vote, 
that they would do no electioneering during that Con¬ 
ference. I was not present and knew nothing of the 
pledge, consequently I did some little work, espec¬ 
ially in pushing Bishop Candler to the front. He was 
President of Emory, but his magnificent abilities as a 
preacher were almost entirely unknown. I called him 
“The Little Giant of the Wire Grass,” and, circulating 
among the Conference, let them know that we regard¬ 
ed him as the strongest, most eloquent, most power¬ 
ful preacher within our knowledge. By good fortune 
he made an address on the proposed changes concern¬ 
ing the Presiding Eldership of the Church. He took 
the side in favor of the presiding elders and before 
he had spoken ten minutes his election as Bishop was 
absolutely assured. 

He made one of his powerful appeals, such as he 
only, in all our Methodist connection, could make. He 
is the Senior Bishop of the Church today, and is still 
the leading orator of the Southern Methodists in the 
United States. 

The funny incident referred to happened on the last 
day of Conference. The Bishop presiding, after some 
remarks asked all the members of the Conference 
who had kept the pledges about electioneering to stand 
up. Nearly all the conference rose. Then he asked 
that all who had done any electioneering should also . 
stand up. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


275 


Only two people arose, Dr. Dowman, of Wesleyan 
College and myself. An audible smile went around the 
Conference and some persons started to applaud. Dr. 
Dowmaa said that he knew several members of the 
Conference who should have stood up with us, if they 
had possessed enough courage to tell the truth and 
hear the ridicule. 

I was allowed to return to each General Conference 
afterwards, either as delegate or alternate, except the 
two last. 

After I was beaten for Governor our annual con¬ 
ference met at Albany. I was not a delegate—not 
having been in the State at the time the district con¬ 
ference selected the membership. Among these there 
happened to be a Sunday School lecturer, who came 
down from some point north of us. I never knew 
from what state. When my name was mentioned for 
delegate he arose and said: “Governor Harris is an 
old man and has held enough positions in the Church 
to justify his quitting and I hope you will not elect 
him.” 

The delegation was practically taken charge of by 
this man and, although I received 16 votes and a 
fraction, eighteen being necessary for a choice, I failed 
of election and stayed at home. The church had con¬ 
firmed the action of the people in relegating the “old 
man” to a back seat forever! 

One event occurred at the General Conference 
in Dallas that I ought to relate. There had grown 
up in the church a great controversy over an appro¬ 
priation made by the United States Congress, to pay 
for the destruction of the publishing house during the 
Civil War. This claim was prepared, presented and 
urged bv Mr. Stahlman, who was not an attorney but 
only a layman in the church. When the claim was 
called up in the Senate the question was asked: “Is 


276 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


there any commission due to any agent for presenting 
this claim?” The statement was made in reply that 
no commissions were to be claimed. To this state¬ 
ment the then head of the publishing house it was 
charged had assented. The claim was allowed in full, 
amounting to two hundred and eighty-eight thousand 
dollars, as I remember. 

It afterwards developed that Mr. §tahlman had a 
contract for one-third of the recovery and had never 
agreed to give this up. He demanded the money, 
whereupon a great controversy arose, as above stated. 
A large part of the church felt that the Senate had 
been deceived, and if the facts had been known the 
claim would never have been allowed. It was contend¬ 
ed, therefore, that the money should be returned to 
the Government, but Mr. Stahlman had no idea of 
returning his part, so that the church would have been 
required to make it up. 

The Annual Conference meeting in Macon in the 
midst of this controversy, Bishop Galloway, who pre¬ 
sided over the conference, stayed at my house. He 
and Bishop Candler met frequently during the week 
in the Bishop’s room in my house and discussed the 
whole matter. The result was that the two bishops 
asked me to undertake to get a statement from the 
individual members of the Senate setting forth the 
fact that they were willing that the Church should 
keep the money and would vote for it if it was again 
proposed. 

I undertook the business—went to Washington, and 
laid the matter first before Mr. Clay, our Senator, 
who was a member of the Methodist Church. After 
Mr. Clay had consulted with several of the Senators 
he came back to me with the paper I had drawn and 
said there was no man in the Senate that could get the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


277 


signatures to the paper except Senator A. O. Bacon, 
and if I could prevail on him to take up the matter 
it could be carried through. 

I saw Mr. Bacon, gave him the document and he 
promptly agreed to make the trial. He did so and 
obtained the signature of every Senator except four, 
two of whom were absent, but it was believed would 
have signed if they had been present. The two Sena¬ 
tors who refused to.sign were from Massachusetts 
and Tennessee, respectively. 

I remained in Washington until the work was almost 
done, and the paper was sent to Georgia by Mr. Ba¬ 
con. It is true, perhaps, that no one in the Senate, except 
Mr. Bacon could have accomplished the task. The 
Church owes him a debt which it has never paid, for 
his act settled the controversy that bade fair to create a 
division that could never have been healed. 

The result was kept from the public until the meet¬ 
ing of the General Conference in Dallas. There the 
opposition had prepared to take the step against keep¬ 
ing the money and to open an assault on all those who 
had been concerned in obtaining the same. 

On the first day of the conference after the address 
of the Bishops was read, Bishop Candler came forward 
and presented the document containing the signatures 
of the Senators to the paper referred to. It was a 
thunder-bolt, and of course settled the whole contro¬ 
versy. No one could question it, as the Senate had 
sent to the Church its greeting and advice, telling the 
Church to keep the money. 

Bishop Candler told me that he had deposited the 
document in his safe and if he dfed before I did he 
would direct his heirs at law and successors to give 
the paper over to me to be kept among my descendants 
for all time. 


278 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


THE VANDERBILT CASE 

At the General Conference, which met at Asheville 
in May, 1910, there came up for discussion and inves¬ 
tigation the status of Vanderbilt University at Nash¬ 
ville, Tennessee. 

Dr. Kirkland, the Chancellor, with a large number 
of the Board of Trust, appeared at the Conference. 
In fact a meeting of the Boarjd of Trust was held 
either during the Conference or just before it began 
in which the claims of the Board were discussed and 
laid down as far as practicable. After a long and 
careful investigation, made by the committee appoint¬ 
ed for that purpose and a discussion in the open Con¬ 
ference, it was finally held that the institution was the 
property of the Church and the Church through its 
general conference had the right to elect its Board of 
Trust and direct its policy as an educational institu¬ 
tion. 

In order to bring the matter to a test three Trus¬ 
tees were elected by the conference, to-wit: N. E. 
Harris, A. W. Biggs, V. A. Godbey. These Trustees 
were directed to take their places in the Board of 
Trust and credentials from the conference were furn¬ 
ished them accordingly. 

Following the adjournment of the conference two 
of these gentlemen, V. A. Godbey and myself, at a 
meeting of the Board of Trust at Vanderbilt, presented 
our credentials, and asked to be admitted to the Board 
as members thereof. 

As evidence of rebellion against the action of the 
General Conference in this respect it may be stated 
that no notice of the meeting of the Board was given 
to either of the newly elected Trustees nor was there 
any statement sent us pointing out the place of meet- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


279 


ing. Through outside sources we were informed of 
the proposed meeting and we went out to the campus 
and asked of some of the persons whom we met on 
the grounds where the meeting was being held. 

Finally one of the faculty was accidentally seen on 
the campus and the situation was explained to him. He 
seemed to be rather nervous but finally agreed to ac¬ 
company us—Dr. Godbey and myself—to the door of 
the building in which the Board of Trust was meet¬ 
ing. As soon as he reached the door and had pointed 
it out to us, he vanished with great celerity, as he was 
evidently fearful of having it known that he had shown 
us any courtesy whatever. 

We came into the building, knocked at the door and 
asked that our names be sent in to the Board of Trust. 
This was done and our credentials were duly and reg¬ 
ularly presented. We were allowed to come inside 
for a short while and then asked to retire. Our case 
was then taken up b.y the Board, passed on, and we 
were informed that our credentials were not recog¬ 
nized and our position as members of the Board of 
Trust was refused. 

I drew up for the College of Bishops a full state¬ 
ment of the result of our efforts and presented it at a 
meeting of that body, called shortly afterwards to con¬ 
sider the situation. The general conference had left 
the matter in the hands of the College of Bishops, for 
such action as the College might see fit to pursue. 
Bishop A. W. Wilson was the presiding Bishoo and 
occupied the chair. Bishop E. R. Hendrix was Chair¬ 
man of the Board of Trust of the Universitv, and, of 
course, was also a member of the College of Bishops. 

My report set out in full the difficulty we had ex¬ 
perienced in finding the Board of Trust; the room 
where it met; and the date of its meeting. I added, 


280 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


in explaining our part of the work, that when we 
reached the house in which the meeting was taking 
place, we found the door shut on us in more ways than 
one. 

When I read this report to the College of Bishops, 
Bishop Hendrix Jtook exception to the words con¬ 
cerning the closed door, and asked that they be strick¬ 
en from the report. Immediately Bishop Atkins came 
to the floor and objected to the striking of the words. 
Then he discussed the general appearance of the whole 
situation and excoriated the Board in no uncertain 
words. It was a bold, daring, powerful arraignment, 
charging in express terms the conspiracy to take away 
the property from the church, defeat the purposes for 
which it was founded, and set it up as an independent 
educational institution. 

Of course Bishop Hendrix replied, possibly Bishop 
Fitzgerald said something, and then Bishop Hoss took 
the floor. He knew more of the inside work of the 
conspirators than any other living man, and he did 
not mince matters when he spoke. Others also of the 
Bishops addressed the Chair. I deemed it a great 
privilege to listen to a discussion of such a character. 
These great men, heads of the church organization, 
saw approaching the so-called rebellion and the set¬ 
tled determination to overthrow the claim of the 
church, to be recognized as the owner of the Univer¬ 
sity. 

After the discussion had gone on for some time I 
asked permission of the presiding Bishop to be heard 
for a moment. He allowed me to speak and after a few 
introductory words I begged the College of Bishops to 
allow me to withdraw the words that were so obnox¬ 
ious to a portion of the College, especially to Bishop 
Hendrix. I told the College I did not want to be the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


281 


cause of dissension in that great body, and as the ob¬ 
jectionable words were not necessary to an under¬ 
standing of the report, but were merely put in to ex¬ 
press my own view of the situation, I begged to be 
allowed to withdraw them. 

The permission was granted and the words were 
stricken. I have since found out beyond all question 
that the words spoke the truth and their withdrawal 
was not required by the facts. 

After this report was made the Bishops decided to 
enter suit to compel the rcognition of the right of 
the General Conference to control the institution and 
a committee of the Bishops was appointed to look 
after the litigation and aid in the prosecution of the 
case. This committee, as I remember, was composed 
of Bishops Hoss, Denny and Candler. The main bur¬ 
den fell upon Bishops Hoss and Denny, as they were 
both domiciled, for a time at least, at Nashville. 

A contract was made with the attorneys, fees were 
fixed, and the bill was prepared. The attorneys con¬ 
sisted of Messrs. Biggs & Fitzhugh, of Memphis; 
Judge Edward O’Rear, of Kentucky; P. D. Madden, 
of Nashville, and N. E. Harris, of Georgia. 

The bill passed through the regular stages, was filed 
in the Chancery Court at Nashville and the interloc¬ 
utory matters came up before Judge John Allison. 
Through all the stages I attended the hearings and 
trial, and when the matter came before the Chancellor 
presiding, I was one of the attorneys who spoke in the 
final argument. 

Three or four large volumes were required to con¬ 
tain the evidence, copies of which are in my posses¬ 
sion. The suit was brought in the name of the State 
of Tennessee, at the relation of A. W. Wilson and 
others constituting the College of Bishops and other 


282 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


complainants, against the Board of Trust of the Van¬ 
derbilt University and other defendants. 

The respondents were represented by J. J. Vertrees, 
J. B. Keeble, G. T. Hughes, C. C. Trabue and others. 

The Chancellor, Judge John Allison, found in favor 
of the complainants, writing a remarkably able opin¬ 
ion^ holding that the property belonged to the church 
and* the church had the right to control through the 
General Conference, and declaring that the three Trus¬ 
tees elected by the Conference were entitled to take 
their seats as members of the Board of Trust. 

An appeal was entered from the decision and the 
case was carried to the Supreme Court of Tennessee. 
It is reported in volume 129, page 279, of the Ten¬ 
nessee Reports. 

All counsel for the church appeared in the Supreme 
Court, but only two were allowed to speak, Messrs. 
Fitzhugh and Biggs. 

When the case was first called for trial, Judge Wil¬ 
liams, of the Supreme Bench, recused himself, holding 
that he was disqualified on account of the fact that 
having been a member of the Conference at Asheville 
he had voted for the three Trustees and otherwise ex¬ 
pressed an opinion concerning the merits of the con¬ 
troversy. The Court then adjourned the case for 
ten days until the Governor could select and appoint 
a temporary judge to sit with the Court on the trial 
of the case. Such judge usually writes the opinion in 
the case. 

In our conferences that preceded the appearance in 
the Supreme Court I had steadily cautioned my asso¬ 
ciates to be prepared for the step which Judge Wil¬ 
liams had taken. I knew under the law that he was 
disqualified, but all mv associates, including two of 
the Bishops, seemed to be strongly of the opinion that 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


283 


Judge Williams could sit in the case and there would 
be no necessity to select a temporary Judge. The event 
turned out as I had prophesied. I knew that under 
Georgia law and practice it would be impossible for 
Judge Williams to declare himself competent to hear 
the case. 

After the adjournment the counsel, with the two 
managing Bishops, met to discuss the course to be fol¬ 
lowed in selecting a Judge to preside in place of the 
disqualified member. Bishop Hoss and Col. Fitzhugh 
immediately called on Governor Hooper, who filled 
the office at that tme, to ascertain his views touching 
the selection. They were informed at once by Govern¬ 
or Hooper that he would not appoint any member of 
the Methodist Church to fill the place of the disquali¬ 
fied Judge. 

This was a severe disappointment, of course, but 
the Governor suggested that the counsel present to 
him the names of a number of lawyers, I think he 
limited us to twelve, who would be considered in con¬ 
nection with the place. We heard afterwards that 
he had called on the counsel for the Vanderbilt side 
to submit an equal number of names. Following this 
program, Bishop Hoss consulted with some of his 
friends to make up the list, receiving, of course, the 
assistance of the Tennessee counsel. Among others he 
called on Colonel Ebb Reeves, of Johnson City, to 
furnish a list. This was done, and Colonel Reeves’ 
list, with some amendments, was adopted by the Bishop 
and presented to the Governor. When the Governor 
compared the two lists made up by the contending 
parties, he found that both lists contained the name 
of Col. Turner, of Knoxville, Tenn., and he was 
promptly appointed to fill the vacant place on the 
bench. 


284 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


It turned out afterwards to be a very disastrous ap¬ 
pointment for the complainants. It was rumored after 
the decision was made that the pro hoc Judge visited 
W. K. Vanderbilt in New York and consulted with 
him freely concerning the case, probably to ascertain 
his views touching it, as it had also been rumored that 
Mr. Vanderbilt was ready to make a large donation to 
the institution, in case the hold of the church was re¬ 
moved from the institution 

I do not know if any of this is true, but I do know 
that Mr. Vanderbilt followed the decision with a con¬ 
tribution amounting to several hundred thousand dol¬ 
lars. 

It is worthy of note that in one of the volumes of 
testimony presented in the case there is substantially 
the following statement: 

“When Commodore Vanderbilt, who founded the 
institution, was lying on his death bed, Bishop Mc- 
Tyeire, who had obtained the donation that brought 
the institution into life, was sent for to visit him. Mr. 
Vanderbilt was in the last stage and died a short time 
after the visit. As the Bishop stepped into the door 
the Commodore greeted him, saying: ‘Howdy, Bishop! 
How are things down at the University?’ And the 
Bishop replied: ‘Very good, Commodore. We are 
getting on right well. We have sixty young preachers 
there who are taking the course and receiving the 
benefits of the institution, besides a good attendance at 
present.’ The old Commodore clapped his hands, and 
said: ‘That’s right, Bishop. That’s what I wanted. 
That’s what I gave you the money for—to educate 
your ministers.’ ” 

I sometimes have wished that the words of his 
father had been read to W. K. Vanderbilt before the 
visit of the pro hac Judge, if such visit occurred. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


285 


The decision was, in a certain sense, a dog fall. It 
recognized in a way the claim of the church, but held 
that the property under the Tennessee law was vested 
in the Board of Trust and that Board must control 
it. It was further stated, or suggested, that the Gen¬ 
eral Conference had the right to confirm the appoint¬ 
ments made by the Board to fill the vacancies in the 
membership when such occurred. 

The decision divided the church somewhat in opin¬ 
ion. One strong party believed that the church could 
control the institution in the way suggested by con¬ 
firming the appointments. Another large number be¬ 
lieved that this power of confirmation was only per¬ 
functory and that no attention would be paid to it. 
It was cited by the latter class that this requirement, 
as to confirmation, had been made some years before 
and that it was evaded b.y simply failing to send the 
names of the Trustees to the Conference for attention. 
There could be no provision declaring the appoint¬ 
ments void for lack of confirmation, unless they had 
been expressly turned down. Various other sugges¬ 
tions were made, all going to show that the church 
had lost its control of the institution. 

While the matter stood thus, the General Confer¬ 
ence came on at Oklahoma City, and here the whole 
question was fought out. I was a delegate from the 
South Georgia conference and when the committee of 
fifteen was appointed to consider the effect of the de¬ 
cision; define the church’s relation to the institution, 
and also report to the conference, if it was found that 
the effort to attempt to control the institution would 
be inadvisable, the name of some other institution or 
institutions to become the official organ or organs of 
the church in its educational work. 

When the committee met it organized with Dr. H. 


286 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


M. DuBose, now Bishop, as Chairman. It became ap¬ 
parent at an early stage that the committee was di¬ 
vided eight to seven concerning the advisability of an 
effort to retain Vanderbilt. Several bids were referred 
to the committee, offering facilities and endowments 
for the establishment of a new university. 

Among these bids was one from Emory College in 
Georgia, which if accepted proposed to transfer itself 
from Oxford in Newton County, to Atlanta, and ac¬ 
companied the same with a promise of a million dol¬ 
lar endowment to be added to the Emory equipment. 

This singular circumstance occurred with reference 
to Emory’s offer. I was walking one day in the vesti¬ 
bule of the church where the conference was held when 
Bishop Candler came up to me and said: “Brother 
Harris, I want to withdraw the offer of Emory College 
from your committee. I have decided to go no further 
with it.” 

Very much astonished, I said: “Why, Bishop, do you 
want to do this?” He replied, stating that he was 
tired of the matter and did not want to push it any 
further, or some such suggestion as this. I said: 
“Bishop, this is a serious matter, would you mind put¬ 
ting it in writing? I would not like to act on it 
unless this is done.” He went away and a few min¬ 
utes afterwards came back with a written letter ad¬ 
dressed to me directing the withdrawal of all prop¬ 
ositions in behalf of Emory College touching the Van¬ 
derbilt matter. 

I was very much distressed by this request and 
called the South Georgia delegation together at the 
hotel where we stopped to lay the matter before them. 
Doctor, now Bishop, Ainsworth, presided. 

When I read the letter, Dr. Ainsworth spoke up 
and said: “The Bishop is disturbed about some¬ 
thing. I do not think you should pay any attention to 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


287 


the request. I am sure he will not insist on it or complain 
if you go forward as heretofore.” And in this the 
delegation seemed to acquiesce. As I went out from 
the meeting this thought came to me: “There is one 
man in the conference who can decide the matter for 
me and put it beyond question,” and I immediately went 
out to find Asa G. Candler, who was a member of the 
North Georgia delegation. When I showed him the 
letter he said to me: “Warren is in the dumps. Don’t 
pay any attention to his request. He heard somebody 
say in a crowd a day or so ago, ‘These Candlers look 
like they are trying to control the whole church and we 
might as well turn it over to them.’ ” 

He then added: “The Bishop will come around in 
a day or two, so don’t pay any attention to the letter, 
but say to the committee that the endowment shall be 
made up and if the million is not enough to get it I will 
see that it goes to two and a half millions.” 

Money talks. We carried through the committee 
the measures which were necessary to present the ques¬ 
tions to the conference and when I told the committee 
of Mr. Candler’s offer, the question was decided in 
short order. The result was that Vanderbilt was 
turned loose and Emory University was finally made 
the educational organ of the church east of the Mis¬ 
sissippi River and was soon moved to Atlanta. 

While we were discussing the question in the con¬ 
ference I was asked to speak on the matter, having 
been one of the discarded trustees elected by the Gen¬ 
eral Conference at Asheville and having represented 
the church throughout the entire litigation. I made the 
best presentation I could, in the course of which I 
took it on myself to say, “Notwithstanding the decision 
of the Court and the claim of the Board of Trust, 
Vanderbilt University belongs to the Methodist Epis¬ 
copal Church, South, and there is no power strong 


288 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


enough on this earth to break that tie. The institu¬ 
tion is destined to come back to the church, though 
we may not live to see it. It is a claim to be bequeathed 
to our children and sent down through other gener¬ 
ations if necessary, until the truth is recognized as 
well bv the Courts as by the church itself:” Nothing 
is finally decided until it is decided right, was my in¬ 
dividual opinion at that time and it is still so. 

The church in its future progress and the spread of 
its membership will need both these institutions some 
time in the future. The bones of the dead princes of 
the church, reposing on the campus, will cry out to 
the Methodists of every clime, through all the com¬ 
ing years, until the cry is heard. 

The conference sustained the committee by a large 
majority and the matter was settled for this gener¬ 
ation. 

THE JUDGESHIP 

About this time a vacancy in the judgeship of the 
Macon Circuit occurred, brought about by the resig¬ 
nation of Judge William H. Felton, Jr. He had been 
upon the bench some seventeen years when he con¬ 
cluded to take up the management of the hydro-elec¬ 
tric plant at Jackson, which supplied Macon with its 
electricity, both for light and power. Judge Felton 
had made a splendid Judge and his decisions were re¬ 
spected and most generally approved. 

Governor Joseph M. Brown was at the head of the 
State’s affairs and when the vacancy occurred he of¬ 
fered the place to me. I had supported him in his 
election and admired him very much indeed as an 
able and conscientious officer. When Governor Hoke 
Smith determined to suspend him from the office of 
Railroad Commissioner, I had called on the Governor 
and begged him not to take the step. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


289 


Governor Smith was always courteous to me and 
though I was generally on the other side from him, 
having supported Mr. Howell for the Governorship, 
when they ran against each other, yet he always ex¬ 
pressed confidence in my opinion. He once laugh¬ 
ingly said to me: “I always try to finish up the business 
in the office here when they send in your name to me 
before seeing you, so I can give you plenty of time for 
conference. I do this because I like to hear from 
the other side, and, as you have always been against 
me, I can find out what other people that are not 
friendly to me are saying.” 

I earnestly counseled him not to use the power which 
the statute gave him to dismiss Mr. Brown, telling 
him that there were multiplied thousands of people 
through Georgia, who were devoted to the Brown 
family and that his future would be jeopardized if he 
persisted in his course. He looked at me with a smile 
and said: “My own friends (mentioning Mr. Arnold 
and others) have given me the same advice. I shall 
not take any of it, but shall follow my own views and 
carry out my own resolves.” 

He relieved Mr. Brown and this act more than 
anything else, caused his defeat. Mr. Brown imme¬ 
diately declared himself a candidate to succeed him as 
Governor and was elected. 

While I am on this subject I would like to nar¬ 
rate a circumstance that occurred at Athens, some 
time after the election. It was our first meeting fol¬ 
lowing Governor Smith’s defeat. He' was on the 
Board of Trustees and so was I. We were invited to 
visit the Agricultural College, the building of which 
was largely due to Mr. Smith’s efforts while in the Gov¬ 
ernor’s Office. Apparently neither of us cared to go 
out and we stood waiting until all the carriages were 


290 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


loaded and left the campus, save one. Mr. Smith got 
into this carriage and looking up at me as I stood on 
the bank, he said: “You might as well get in, for I 
reckon we can ride together yet.” It was the first 
words that had been spoken between us. I got in the 
carriage and as we went out I said to him, “Well, Sir, 
if I wanted to get my revenge I could say to you, 
‘I told you so.’ ” 

He replied: “Yes, but if I had to do it over again 
I would follow the same course to the dotting of an 
T and the crossing of a ‘t.’ ” Then I replied to him: 
“Governor, the only difference between you and the 
patient out yonder in the lunatic asylum is that he is 
there and you are here.” 

He looked at me right hard for a second or two 
and then burst out laughing, and added: “You will 
never know what damage you have done to the State 
by turning me out. I had conceived the most wonder¬ 
ful things for her institutions and the management of 
her affairs generally.” And then he outlined the pro¬ 
gram that he had intended to follow. It was splendid. 

When Governor Brown tendered me the position of 
Judge I declined it with thanks, telling him I could not 
afford the sacrifice, as the salary was too small com¬ 
pared with what I was making. He persisted and 
begged me to take it, if only temporarily, as it would 
relieve him from an unpleasant situation, for he could 
not make any other satisfactory choice at that time. I 
consulted with my wife and she .seemed to be rather 
in favor of my accepting the position, so the matter 
stood for a day or so. 

Meantime the race between Woodrow Wilson and 
Oscar Underwood for President became more intense. 
The Telegraph, at the head of which was my friend, 
Colonel Pendleton, espoused the cause of Underwood, 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


291 


while The Evening News was strongly in favor of Mr. 
Wilson. The two papers seldom pulled together. 

Just at this time my kinsman, Robert L. Taylor, 
who was Senator from Tennessee, suddenly died. I 
had been with him about ten days previously, when I 
found him complaining of gall stones, keeping his bed 
most of the time. He had outlined to me his canvass 
for the Senate, which was coming on, and I went 
home with an increased admiration for the splendor of 
his eloquence and the beauty of his wit and humor. 

When I heard that he was dead, following an un¬ 
fortunate operation, I went to Johnson City to meet 
the funeral train as it passed down to Nashville, and 
I boarded it at the former city. A large delegation 
from Congress was on board, accompanying the fun¬ 
eral car. I conversed with a number of these on the 
way down, touching the Presidential election. Some 
of the Senators expressed themselves in favor of Un¬ 
derwood, especially Senator Johnson from Alabama. 

I left the funeral train at Chattanooga and came on 
back to Macon. As I passed up the street I stopped 
for a moment at the door of The Telegraph building. 
While standing there at the foot of the stairs Colonel 
Pendleton came down and seeing me said: “You look 
weary and worn out. What is the trouble with you?” 
I replied: “I have just come back from the funeral 
of my kinsman, Bob Taylor, of Tennessee.” There¬ 
upon Mr. Pendleton asked me all about the trip, and 
especially what I had heard about the Presidential 
campaign. I told him I talked with some of the Sen¬ 
ators and others who were on the train and that all 
that I had seen had expressed themselves in favor of 
Underwood. 

On this Colonel Pendleton constructed an interview 
and stated specifically that I had said that all the Sen- 


292 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


ators on the train were in favor of Oscar Underwood 
for President. When I read this next morning I im¬ 
mediately wrote a correction and sent it down to him, 
telling him that I had not used the words mentioned 
by him, but had stated that I had talked with some 
of the Senators and they were in favor of Mr. Under¬ 
wood, etc. 

Meantime a News reporter telephoned me and ask¬ 
ed if the purported interview was correct. I replied 
that the interview was not correct, but that I had 
corrected it by communication that morning sent to 
The Telegraph. The reporter replied: “Won’t you 
give us a communication?” I said: “No, I don’t want 
to get into any controversy and I have asked The Tele¬ 
graph to correct the interview and publish my state¬ 
ment.” 

The News came out that evening vigorously deny¬ 
ing the statement in The Telegraph, saying that it 
was not correct nor founded on fact, following this 
up the next evening with an interview from the Sen¬ 
ators sent both to The Journal in Atlanta and The 
Evening News, denying that they had made any such 
statement to me. 

Mr. Pendleton then declared that he would not 
publish my correction, but would take on himself to 
answer and denounce the articles in The News touch¬ 
ing the matter. So the controversy went on over my 
head and at my expense, although I had plainly and 
explicitly declared that the interview was a mistake 
and that I had never said what was claimed. 

While I was smarting under this unjust situation, 
Governor Brown renewed his tender of the judge- 
ship. I may say here that I had never taken position 
up to that time in favor of Underwood. I had been 
attracted more to Mr. Wilson than to Underwood, 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


293 


as the former had spent his life largely in educational 
work, which pleased me. I probably would have fav¬ 
ored him in the State. After the unjust denunciation 
made by The News I came out flat-footed for Under¬ 
wood—wrote article after article and letter after let¬ 
ter in his favor through the State, publishing many 
extracts from Mr. Wilson’s works and setting out 
that he had gone so far away from us through his 
Northern associations that the South ought not to sup¬ 
port him. I may say here that the Underwood cam¬ 
paign carried the State by more than twenty thousand 
majority. 

When Governor Brown first tendered me the judge- 
ship, as I have said, I had rejected it as too great a 
sacrifice, but when his insistence came I took it under 
advisement, and with my wife rather urging me to 
accept. Nevertheless one night I got up to the tele¬ 
phone to call the Governor and tell him that I had 
finally decided not to accept. My wife caught my hand 
and prevented me from carrying out my purpose. I 
waited until next day and then said to myself: “I had 
better accept the position, for the first man who will 
ask me a favor will he the owner of The Evening 
News, and of course I will grant it to him.” 

I accepted, entered on the office, and sure enough 
the first man who asked a favor of me when I got 
upon the bench was the owner of The Evening News. 
He wanted some of his men left off from the jury, and 
of course I granted the request. 

I found out afterwards that Ralph Smith was the 
correspondent of The Journal and News, who. inter¬ 
viewed the Senators and wrote the communication 
that charged me with the misrepresentation. I told 
him long afterwards, when I met him in Atlanta, that 
his communications had caused me to take the judge- 


294 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


ship in my circuit and but for this fact I would never 
have been Governor of Georgia. He expressed his re¬ 
grets that he had caused me pain, but said he was glad 
that the result, so far as I was concerned, had turned 
out as it did. He said he was only after The Telegraph. 

My services as Judge of the Court was confined 
to the year 1912. I served only about six months. 
During that time I cleared the docket in the court at 
Macon—disposing of some three hundred cases. Six¬ 
teen of these went to the Supreme Court, but came 
back without a single reversal. 

In one case the Court expressed doubt as to the 
correctness of my ruling, but declined to reverse, be¬ 
cause they found the judgment entirely right on the 
merits. 

When the unexpired term was within two or three 
months of ending I resigned and asked the Governor 
to appoint Judge H. A. Mathews to the vacancy. This 
he did, and Judge Mathews has filled the position 
from that time to the present writing. 

The experience which I obtained on the bench gave 
me a better insight into the administration of law than 
I had ever had. I tried and sentenced several crimi¬ 
nals, untied several difficult knots in the cases which 
came to trial before me, learned the value of the argu¬ 
ments used by many of the bar, learned to select that 
which was trustworthy and that which was decidedly 
without merit, and altogether enjoyed the few months 
during which I occupied the bench. 

But for a personal defect I would probably have 
remained on the bench longer; at least would have test¬ 
ed the people in the election. I found myself very diffi¬ 
cult of hearing. In my childhood I had lost the use 
of one ear. Having, therefore, only one ear, I found 
that I could never understand what was said when 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


295 


more than one addressed the court at a time. This con¬ 
dition occurred almost continuously on every trial. 
Whenever one lawyer interrupted another he was sure 
to commence talking before the other had stopped. 
The consequence was that the two voices made utter 
silence in my one ear and I was compelled to ask the 
lawyers to start over again one at a time. I did this 
so often that I grew nervous over it; found that it 
soon brought on headaches and I decided that I was 
not physically fit for the Judgeship if I wished to 
do it justice. 

To some of the cases I brought all the legal learning 
I had accumulated in the past, and prided myself that 
the decision was right when I reached it. But the 
help which I could get from the lawyers in their dis¬ 
cussions was often so interfered with by their disputes 
and double interruptions that I thought at times I 
would have done better if I had had no one to speak 
to me. 

While I was still on the bench I came to East Ten¬ 
nessee where my wife had prevailed over me to pur¬ 
chase a summer home. It was located in Hampton, 
a village in Carter County, about five miles east of 
Elizabethton, the county seat, where she was born. 

I have already described how I was driven out from 
this country following the Civil War. My old home 
on the Cherokee was about seventeen miles on an air 
line from the place which the madam had induced me 
to buy. A large number of ex-soldiers of the Union 
Army lived in the village and all of these were draw¬ 
ing pensions from the Government. I gathered them 
together and stated to them that they had driven me 
out of East Tennessee at the close of the War, so I 
was not a voluntary emigrant from the State, but had 
gone out against my will. I stated that I had pur- 





f 







> 


RESIDENCE OF MRS. HARRIS AT HAMPTON, TENN. 

It was known as “The Governor’s Summer Mansion” during 

his incumbency. 





AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


297 


chased this place with the idea of spending my sum¬ 
mers here in my old age, and I added: “Gentlemen, if 
you have any objection to my coming back here for 
this purpose, please let it be known now, so we may 
have no misunderstanding hereafter.” 

The old men said at once, with one accord, “Why, 
Judge, we have no objection to your coming back, of 
course. We would like for you to spend the time 
with us if you desire to do so.” And then one of 
them spoke up, saying, “The truth is, Judge, I have 
come to the conclusion that you were about right in 
those times anyhow.” This created a laugh and all of 
us seemed satisfied. 

So the best of harmony has existed ever since I have 
been coming to Hampton for the summer. It is about 
twenty-five miles on an air line from Asheville, I should 
say, and is surrounded on all sides by the mountains, 
even as “the mountains were round about Jerusalem 
for safety.” No cyclones or tornadoes can touch the 
place on account of the sheltering walls of the moun¬ 
tains that surround it. The little Doe River runs like 
a thread of silver through the valley and in the yard 
is a great spring walled with concrete, some eighty by 
one hundred feet, running as much as ten million gal¬ 
lons per day. This spring drops into a lake that is 
also in the yard covering some half an acre, and fringed 
on the banks with weeping willows, Carolina poplars, 
and other growth, making one of the most beautiful 
scenes that the human eye ever lighted upon. 

Originally I put in a dynamo at the point where the 
spring branch drops into the little river, the fall there 
being about ten feet, and the water passed through a 
turbine. This furnished enough power to fill the house 
and grounds with electric light. 

The house itself is a brick structure built in 1867 



THE SPRING AND LAKE IN REAR OF THE SUMMER HOME 
The spring runs ten million gallons every twenty-four hours. 





























AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


299 


by Elijah Simmerly, a prominent man of the moun¬ 
tains. It has eleven rooms besides the kitchen and 
milk room. The walls of every room were made of 
brick so that there were no laths and plaster in any 
of the partitions. Surrounded by porches and by a 
yard containing evergreen and other growth, common 
to this section of the country, with grass and flowers 
in abundance, it presents that rare combination or 
beauty and quietude that gladdens the heart of any 
visitor no matter what his race may be. 

The place had been owned by a millionaire of Nash¬ 
ville, Tenn., who had added to its attractions a sys¬ 
tem of water works and other conveniences of civili¬ 
zation, so that I consider it a case of rare good for¬ 
tune that my wife was able to secure it when the mil¬ 
lionaire grew tired of spending his summers in the 
place. 

Most of the furniture, which I had accumulated in 
the past in the two homes I had occupied was carried 
to the mountain home, when I gave up the dwelling in 
Macon. 

Altogether, therefore, the place attracts so strongly 
when the summer comes that the preparations for re¬ 
moval are almost always earlier than the weather will 
justify. 

When I took the judgeship I surrendered all the 
positions that I held with the railroads, gave up the 
business of the firm to my two sons, who were in part¬ 
nership with me, and laid down whatever other po¬ 
sitions seemed to conflict with the duties of the judge- 
ship. I was, therefore, without any office or practice, 
or position of profit when I quit the judgeship. This 
fact gave me leisure to contemplate an entrance into 
politics and a struggle for postion. 


« 


* 



COTTAGE OF MRS. N. E. HARRIS AT DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. 

Here the winters are spent. 
































AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


301 


MY PARTNERS, WALTER B. HILL, WASH¬ 
INGTON DESSAU AND WILLIAM B. BIRCH 

The firm name under which I practiced law for the 
largest part of my legal career was Hill & Harris. 
Our first office was on Cherry Street, above what was 
then Walker’s Grocery Store, about one door east of 
the corner now occupied by the Bibb National Bank, 
and for a long time by Clisby’s Shoe Store. 

Judge Hill was accustomed to spend his leisure time 
in the office, often discussing the cases in other courts 
that he had turned over to us. Our next office was with 
Lanier & Anderson on Second Street, on the corner 
of Wall Street. In this office I have often had the 
pleasure of talking with both Sidney Lanier and his 
wife. They attracted me more than I can ever tell. 

Young Lanier had given up his law practice and 
was devoting himself entirely to literature. Many 
times in the office he went over the principal events 
of his career. He was in the Southern Army and he 
described his war experiences with great interest to 
me, of course, as I had served in the same army. I 
noticed one thing that came out very prominently in 
my conversation with him. He ascribed to his wife 
almost entirely the fact that he was still alive. She 
had stood over him, helped him, encouraged him bright¬ 
ening his life with her smiles and her good advice, and 
he often insisted that his career would have ended in 
a failure but for her love and ministration. She was 
undoubtedly very devoted to him. 

There crept out in these conversations the strong evi¬ 
dences of his love for music. He practiced on his 
flute every once and awhile, when the office was free 
of business. The truth is I never appreciated his 
poetry until long afterwards. There was so much 
evidence of his musical bent shown in his poetical work 


302 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


that I forgot its merits as a literary production and 
considered it only with reference to his musical tal¬ 
ents. To me he seemed to have bent everything to¬ 
wards the musical. His father being in the office evi¬ 
dently encouraged his conversation with us and many 
times gave direction to his thoughts. 

Long afterwards, when his name had filled the Na¬ 
tion, I began to appreciate the struggle through which 
he had gone. His face was pale and plainly showed 
the presence of the awful disease, with which he strug¬ 
gled. He wrote his works while fighting his battle 
with consumption. What inspiration he drew from 
the horrible disease I know not. I have seen evi¬ 
dence of its quickening power over the circulation and 
the brightening of mental processes in the production 
of thought. Nearly all my brothers and sisters have 
gone that same road, and also my mother. One by 
one the same terrible disease, with which Sidney La¬ 
nier battled for years, carried my family into the 
grave, until only two, besides myself, out of the twelve, 
are left. 

After w'e separated from Lanier & Anderson we 
took into the firm a first cousin of Mr. Hill, William 
B. Birch. We had also with us Mr. Hill’s nephew, 
Pope Hill. Our office then was in the Masonic Hall, 
where we stayed until we went to the Pythian Castle. 

Here Mr. Washington Dessau became a part of the 
firm and we practiced under the name of Dessau, 
Harris & Birch. 

My first wife died while our office was in the Pythian 
Castle. She left me with six children to take care 
of, four boys and two girls. Three of these boys 
graduated at the University of Georgia and after¬ 
wards studied law and became members of the firm. 
Two of them are still carrying on the business. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


303 


As the children were rather small and the house¬ 
hold needed direction, my mother-in-law, Mrs. Burke, 
advised me to marry again and get someone to take 
charge of the household for me. My second wife was 
Miss Hattie G. Jobe. 

After we were married we spent a portion of one 
summer with the children at a place called Mountain 
Lake, in West Virginia. While I was there I receiv¬ 
ed a telegram from Mr. Hill, forwarded to me from 
the railroad some twelve miles away, telling me that 
he was anxious to be elected Chancellor of the Uni¬ 
versity of Georgia and as I was a member of the Board 
of Trustees he wanted my help. 

I went down at once as fast as the train could take 
me and began a canvass, in his behalf, for the posi¬ 
tion. Two strong men came to my help as soon as 
I mentioned Mr. Hill’s name. One was Governor W. 
Y. Atkinson, who was then in office, and A. O. Bacon, 
who was then in the United States Senate from Geor¬ 
gia. 

Mr. Bacon had known my partner for many years. 
We had practiced together at the bar in Macon with 
varying success, mostly on opposite sides from Mr. 
Bacon and his firm. 

Mr. Hill’s talents were highly appreciated by Sen¬ 
ator Bacon and he said immediately, when I mention¬ 
ed his name, that he believed Mr. Hill would make 
an ideal Chancellor and he would support him. Gov¬ 
ernor Atkinson took the same view, though neither 
Bacon nor Atkinson had ever been considered as po¬ 
litical friends of Mr. Hill. Our united efforts easily 
elected Mr. Hill, and he proceeded at once to Athens 
to take charge of our mutual Alma Mater. 

Mr. Dessau came into the firm in his place, as I 
have stated above, and our business was increased 


304 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 

rather than diminished by the change. Mr. Dessau 
had a wide range of clients and his wonderful success 
at the bar had challenged the attention not only of 
the profession, but of the people of the State. He was 
a thorough lawyer. Although born a Jew he had 
married a Gentile, his wife belonging to one of the 
prominent families of the State. 

He was never unhorsed in the trial of a case but 
that he came down on his feet. 

I never knew what he really held in the way of re¬ 
ligious convictions. We have often been out at court 
and at night when we went to bed, many times with 
a half dozen lawyers sleeping in the same room; be¬ 
fore he got into bed he would kneel down and say 
his prayers, then get up and in five minutes be swear¬ 
ing like a trooper. He didn’t seem to know that there 
was any inconsistency between the prayer and the 
swear. 

It was a fitting end to a great career that he should 
have died in the presence of the Supreme Court of 
his State, while engaged in making a great legal argu- 
mnt for his client. He was stricken with apoplexy and 
died in a moment or two. His last words went over 
the State: “Light follows from the clash of minds 
and the truth is developed in the conflict.” 

MY POLITICAL CAREER CONTINUED 

Recurring to some of the steps taken by me before 
coming to the contest for the last great office I should 
probably mention my race for the State Senate, which 
occurred in 1894. 

I have spoken of my friend, Appleton Collins, in con¬ 
nection with the first race for Representative. In the 
race for the Senate I had the good fortune to enlist 
in my behalf one of the most remarkable men that the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


305 


City of Macon ever produced, Hon. Daisy Price, for 
a long time Mayor of Macon. I have had many dis¬ 
interested friends, or I never could have succeeded in 
achieving any political distinction, but among them all 
Daisy Price stands at the front, in my memory. 

Governor McDaniel once said to me that no man 
could achieve political success unless he had behind him 
a united constituency willing to press his fortune, with¬ 
out reference to their own ambitions. Daisy Price 
came to my help when he had nothing to gain for him¬ 
self. He turned aside from the support he was giving 
to many other friends and centered his political affec¬ 
tions upon me. 

It was largely through his instrumentality that I 
received the nomination for the Senate in the 22nd Dis¬ 
trict, known as the Macon District. He engineered 
the campaign and with his power and energy and in¬ 
fluence made the result a foregone conclusion. 

After I was nominated the oDoosition brought out 
against me a gentleman who resided in Monroe Coun¬ 
tv. Mr. Watson, the sage of McDuffie, had divided 
the party, claiming to follow what he called “the mid¬ 
dle of the road,” attacking the Democratic policy and 
holding up our then President Grover Cleveland to po¬ 
litical scorn and unbridled abuse. 

My old class-mate, Charlie Bartlett, was running 
for Congress at the time, and we decided to go out 
on the hustings together and present our cause to the 
people. When we started out, Judge Bartlett, who 
was much better informed about the political issues of 
the day by far than I was, told me that in all my 
speeches I must be careful never to sav a word in 
favor of Grover Cleveland or his administration. He 
said the country people in Monroe and Pike had been 
so indoctrinated with the idea that Cleveland was a 


306 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


monstrosity and his administration a disgrace to the 
Nation that they would hiss me down and then vote 
against me if I ever showed that I was friendly to 
Mr. Cleveland or his cause. 

We spoke at several points and I carefully bore in 
mind his advice. Finally, the Democrats, the few who 
were left in the Hollonsville District of Pike County, 
got up a joint debate between the Populists and the 
Democrats and I was asked to take part in the debate. 
Mr. Bartlett did not appear on this occasion, but Col¬ 
onel John Redding, who was running for Representa¬ 
tive in Pike County, took his place. 

In order to bring about the joint debate the Dem¬ 
ocratic Committee agreed with the Populists that the 
Populists’ speakers should have the opening and con¬ 
clusion. 

A large crowd gathered at a school house in' the 
t own which was situated on the Atlanta & Florida road 
and two Chairmen were selected to preside over the 
meeting, the Populists Chairman to preside while the 
Democrats were talking and the Democratic Chairman 
to preside while the Populists were talking. The de¬ 
bate was opened by Col. Barrett, who was the father 
of Charles S. Barrett, afterwards official head of the 
Farmers Union of the United States. Colonel Bar¬ 
rett was an able and fearless debater, had been in the 
Legislature, and was running for re-election, being op¬ 
posed bv John Redding, one of the Democratic speak¬ 
ers of the day. 

Colonel Barrett made a fine telling address in be¬ 
half of his candidacy and when he closed I felt that 
John Redding was entirely demolished and had no 
chance to come back. I reasoned without my host. 
Mr. Redding had not sooken more than ten minutes 
in reply, when the situation began to change. He knew 
Colonel Barrett’s record and he hurled it into his op- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


307 


ponent’s face with a power and strength of expression 
that I never imagined he possessed. When he closed 
the situation looked bright and my heart had leaped 
up to my throat. I followed him, as under our agree¬ 
ment two Democrats occupied the middle of the speak¬ 
ing. I began in the usual way to urge my candidacy 
upon the people, telling what I had done as a mem¬ 
ber of the House and proceeding to show why they 
should support me for the Senate. I had spoken only 
a short while when a gentleman in the audience rose 
and asked me if he might propound a question to me. 
I told him of course he could do so, and thereupon 
he said: “Colonel Harris, what do you think of Grover 
Cleveland?” 

I turned aside the inquiry by telling an anecdote, 
which had in it the suggestion that the “sixteen-to-one” 
in the silver dollar meant sixteen negroes to one white 
man, and that this was the contest that the Populists 
were waging. Then I started out again on the gen¬ 
eral questions of the day when my friend in the audi¬ 
ence rose and interrupted me. As I stopped, he said: 
“Colonel Harris, I asked you a fair question and you 
have not answered it. What do you think of Grover 
Cleveland and his administration?” 

I told another anecdote and made the people laugh 
again, with some foolish statement, and then started 
out on the main questions. My friend rose the third 
time and interrupted me, then he called the Chairman 
and made a statement to the effect that he had asked 
this nuestion twice—a fair Question—and I had re¬ 
fused to answer it. He, therefore, requested the Chair¬ 
man to compel me to answer or stop any further 
speaking. 

The Chairman then said to me: “Colonel Harris, 
I hold that you must answer the question as it is a 


308 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


fair one, and this audience is entitled to have it an¬ 
swered before you go further.” 

It can be well understood that this ruling of the 
Chair stirred up all the passion in my soul. I said at 
once, and I spoke with a fierce intonation that could 
not be misunderstood: “Mr. Chairman, you had no 
right to stop me and force this issue upon me. Your 
side has the right to conclude, but inasmuch as you 
have seen fit to do so, I say to you, Sir, no Populist 
living on this earth shall prevent me from stating what 
I think of the head of the Democratic party. Sir, I 
am for Grover Cleveland from the crown of his head 
to the soles of his feet. Now make what you can of 
it! ” 

The effect of this statement could never be de¬ 
scribed. For fifteen minutes the audience seemed be¬ 
side itself. Men shouted, cheered, beat the desks, 
threw their hats to the ceiling, and yelled, “Hurrah 
for Grover Cleveland.” This excitement grew from 
the beginning. Everybody was on his feet in the house 
and I never have heard such shouting at a public meet¬ 
ing in all my life. I stood in the midst of it gesticulat¬ 
ing and trying to wedge in a word, but the crowd would 
not stop. I saw the faces of the Populists on the 
stage turn pale. They knew that the tide had changed 
and the sun had set on their cause. 

When quiet was finally restored I took up my rea¬ 
sons for supporting Cleveland. I told the audience 
how the South had struggled since the War to re¬ 
store herself to the position to which she was of right 
entitled, in our Government. I told them how we had 
pushed the stone up the hill, until now it had reached 
the top, and how those of our own people who differ¬ 
ed with us were willing to hurl it back down again. I 
showed how Cleveland had appointed Southern Dem- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


309 . 


ocrats to office, how he had set his face to favor our 
long-suffering country, and how ungrateful it was now 
to turn and try to strike him in the face. I begged 
the Populists to come back and join with us in mak¬ 
ing the glorious result more brilliant, making it worth¬ 
while to be a Southerner, making it an honor to be 
a Democrat. This was what we had labored for and 
now when we had attained it, did it lie in the mouths 
of Southern people to denounce the man who had 
brought it about and to cast out his name with de¬ 
rision and scorn? I appealed to the men who had 
been with us in the past to retrace their steps and come 
back to the old mother that had moulded our Nation 
and given it its laws. 

While I was speaking and making this appeal I 
saw a gentleman who was sitting well to the front, 
rise, move out directly before me, and pass down the 
aisle and go out through the door. Many people no¬ 
ticed it also. I thought he had become disgusted. 

After I had closed my speech, I told the audience 
that I had only a short while before the train would 
be due and I wanted to get back to Macon that night, 
so I would have to leave, but I begged them to 
remain and hear my competitor, as that was a courtesy 
that my friends owed to him. Then I sat down. As 
I did so, and was preparing to rise and leave, Colonel 
Barrett came to me and begged me to remain for a 
while at least, so that his friend would have a chance 
to be heard. His friend was running for Secretary 
of State on the Populist ticket and he was anxious for 
him to be heard. I told him I could give him fifteen 
minutes, and then perhaps have time to reach the train. 
I sat and listened to the new speaker for the time 
stated. He did not appear to be much of an ora¬ 
tor and failed to arouse any great enthusiasm. 


310 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


I was leaning back against the facing of the window 
on the stage, the window being open, when all at once 
I felt my leg pulled by someone on the outside. I 
looked around and saw that it was the man who had 
gotten up and left the meeting before I concluded. He 
seemed very much moved, and I was afraid meant 
some violence to me. He said: “I am tired to death 
of all this damned nonsense. I am as good a Demo¬ 
crat as you are, and I don’t intend to be considered 
in any other light. I want you to bear this in mind.” 

I said some words to placate, and then finding the 
fifteen minutes expired, I rose to go. I may say here 
that the man who had pulled my leg was the Chair¬ 
man of the Populist Committee, one of the most in¬ 
fluential men in the District. He resigned his position 
that afternoon, came back to our party, and fought in 
the ranks to carry the District for the Democratic can¬ 
didates, including myself. 

When I started to leave the stage, though my op¬ 
ponent was still speaking, I saw the whole audience, 
almost as one man, rise to its feet and commence leav¬ 
ing the house. They followed me to the train, shout¬ 
ing for Cleveland and Harris. I was told afterwards 
that only one man and a negro boy were left in the 
audience, to hear the conclusion of the speaker’s ad¬ 
dress. 

The great crowd followed to the train, cheering and 
waving their hats in the air and when I got on board 
and looked back the last thing I saw and heard was 
that same audience waving hats and shouting, “Hur¬ 
rah for Grover Cleveland and Nat Harris.” 

As I went home I reached the conclusion that while 
Judge Bartlett might be right, yet it only required a 
little boldness in speech and action to bring the people 
back to their allegiance, as well to the party as to the 
Chief, who managed its affairs at Washington. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 311 

When the story went out about this debate I was 
overwhelmed with requests to go through the district 
and the State, but I concluded to confine my efforts to 
my own people at home. 

I was elected overwhelmingly. Before the election 
my opponent in Monroe County was kind enough to 
write me that he believed I would be elected and hoped 
it would turn out so. 

My name was presented to the Senators for Presi¬ 
dent of the body. I suppose I would have been elected 
if I had agreed to make a canvass but Hon. A. O. 
Bacon was a candidate for the United States Senate, 
and coming from my city made me very anxious to 
elect him. His opponents before the Legislature, which 
body at that time elected the Senator, were Henry G. 
Turner, of Lowndes, and Louis F. Garrard, of Mus¬ 
cogee. 

Judge Turner had been in Congress for many years 
and was looked upon by his friends as the ablest man 
in the lower House from Georgia. Louis Garrard 
was speaker of the House in the first Legislature which 
I ever attended, in 1882-3. 

He had given me a chairmanship in that body and 
had the right to expect some return for the same. Of 
course, under the circumstances, I could not lay down 
the cause of my own countyman. William H. Venable, 
who was the Senator from the 35th District, in which 
Atlanta was located, was one of the declared candi¬ 
dates for the Presidency of the Senate. 

Knowing that I was strongly desirous of electing 
Mr. Bacon, having been appointed Chairman of his 
Legislative committee, and pushing his cause with all 
the vigor that I could command, he came to me and 
said: “I know you will be elected if you run for the 
Presidency. Your experience and ability entitle you 


312 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


to the place and I will not run against you if I can’t 
persuade you to come down. If you will come down 
and give me your support I will join you in the effort 
to elect Mr. Bacon U. S. Senator, and by putting our 
influence together we can carry the Senate for him, 
in spite of anything that can be done. In fact, if 
you will do this for me I will almost absolutely guar¬ 
antee that we can carry the Senate. Of course if you 
take your name out of the race and give me your in¬ 
fluence it will mean my election, as nobody can stand 
up against us.” 

It was a strong appeal, for I had stood by Mr. Ba¬ 
con as the Chairman of his campaign committee, in 
two of the races that he had made for Governor and 
he had selected me to act as Chairman of his Legisla¬ 
tive committee in the present Legislature. Senator Ven¬ 
able was an able man and I knew was fitted in every 
way for the Presidency of the body. He was a strong 
friend of mine, and after I had thought over it I fi¬ 
nally told him that I would retire from the race and 
support him and, while I made no conditions, I asked 
him to help me carry the Senate for Mr. Bacon. He 
promised, and the result was that the Senate voted 
for Bacon by a strong plurality. 

One incident which happened in the canvass we made 
for Mr. Bacon, I think, may he told in these memoirs. 
The Legislature at that time elected a large part of 
the State Government officers. The judges of all the 
courts, including the Supreme Court, the Solicitors 
General, and a number of other offices were filled by 
the Legislature at that time. A great many candi¬ 
dates, therefore, were before the body with their 
friends, and numerous exciting canvasses were going 
on. 

A great many of these candidates and their friends 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


313 


approached Mr. Bacon offering to trade with him, pro¬ 
posing to give him a certain amount of votes for his 
influence in their behalf. He was so situated in many 
cases that he could not refuse the requests. We pre¬ 
vailed on him to postpone any final agreement and re¬ 
fer it to his committee. 

The pressure finally became so great that his part¬ 
ner, Judge A. L. Miller, and one or two other men 
who were helping us, determined to take charge of 
Mr. Bacon and lock him up in his room in the hotel 
on the pretense of his sickness, and keep him there un¬ 
til the election came on. This was done, after which 
a full explanation was made to him. I will say that 
he resented bitterly such a step and sought to unlock 
the doors or call help to secure his release. This was 
looked after, however, and prevented, and finally he 
resigned himself to the inevitable. 

Mantime a caucus of his friends was called and I 
presided. We took steps for a thorough and deter¬ 
mined canvass—appointed committees and laid down 
the lines of warfare. The election was preceded by a 
party caucus of all the Legislature. This caucus was 
called because there were several members of the Leg¬ 
islature who were not Dmocrats and it was thought 
best to have the election brought about by allowing 
the Democratic portion of the body to select its can¬ 
didate. 

When the caucus met, which was almost the same 
as a joint meeting of the House and Senate, I was se¬ 
lected by my side to put Mr. Bacon’s name in nomi¬ 
nation. The rules of the joint session of the Legisla¬ 
ture were made applicable, one of which prohibited 
the use of any commendatory words in presenting the 
name of the candidate. When I proceeded to make the 
nomination I said simply: “I nomiate for the office of 


314 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


United States Senator that noble citizen of Bibb 
County_” 

I had gotten this far when one of the members 
from Savannah, Mr. McIntyre, who was very much 
devoted to Judge Henry G. Turner, jumped to his 
feet and objected to the use of the word “noble.” His 
objection was concurred in by a score of gentlemen, 
who came to the floor at the same time and shouted 
out their disapprobation of the term I had used. 

The confusion was so great that I could not be heard 
to finish the nomination. I sat down with the state¬ 
ment: “Very well, gentlemen, we’ll give him the nom¬ 
ination anyhow.” 

The ballot was taken and Mr. Bacon was elected 
by a large majority. As soon as the day, set apart 
in the statutes for voting, was reached his election was 
made practically unanimous in both sides. When we 
informed Mr. Bacon of the result, after he had thank¬ 
ed us, he could not help saying: “You treated me like 
a baby, in having kept me here.” 

I deem it right to say that I did not advise the 
step which led to his segregation, but I agreed to it 
when those who were nearer to him informed me as 
to what was intended. 

A few days afterwards, when Mr. Bacon ascer¬ 
tained that I had given up the race for the head of the 
Senate to carry that body for him, he used these words 
to me: “Nat, the Lord will never let me die until I 
can either make you head of the Senate or speaker of 
the House.” 

I grieve to say that he never did either. He grew 
colder and colder towards me as his term continued. 
And one day, when the Spanish-American War came 
on, and my son Walter had gone across to Cuba as a 
Lieutenant, the then Governor Allen D. Candler gave 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 315 

him a captaincy in his regiment, putting him at the 
head of an Atlanta Company in the Third Georgia. 
I saw Mr. Bacon and asked him to have the Depart¬ 
ment send a cablegram to Cuba announcing Walter’s 
appointment. He gave me some instructions as to 
what I should do in the matter, all of which I prompt¬ 
ly attended to. 

A few days afterwards I met Senator Bacon on the 
street car and asked him if he had complied with my 
request. He became irritated and stated that if it 
was not attended to it was my own fault, that he had 
told me what to do, and he had no doubt that I didn’t 
attend to it. He followed it up and said that I was ex¬ 
pecting too much, when I failed to do my part, and 
then expressed disappointment that he hadn’t done 
his part. 

I said to him: “Senator, it is the first favor that 
I have ever asked you in your official capacity and I 
can tell you now that it shall be the last.” And we 
separated. 

I never had any further recognition from him, either 
for what I had done in his past elections or in aiding 
in his Senatorial election. He made friends of other 
people in Macon after this and expressed no interest 
whatever as far as I know in any matter about which 
I was concerned. It was only when he died that I 
began to entertain an ambition to have the city of Ma¬ 
con represented in the State Government. 

I ought to say here that I found out after my con¬ 
versation referred to above, that Mr. Bacon had at¬ 
tended to the matter and prevailed on the War De¬ 
partment to send the cablegram. All the telegraph 
lines had been taken charge of by the Government and 
could only be used for Government business. 

Senator Bacon was one of the ablest men the South 


316 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


has had, either in the Senate or House, since the Civil 
War. He did not make the show that Mr. Hill ex¬ 
hibited nor arouse the enthusiastic attention that Gen¬ 
eral Gordon commanded, but for cold, pure intellect, 
exhibited in debate or in the general work of the Sen¬ 
ate, there never was his superior, nor in my judgment, 
his equal in that august body from the South since the 
War. 

His debate with the distinguished Senator from 
Wisconsin, Mr. Spooner, the strongest man on the Re¬ 
publican side at that time in the Senate, brought out 
all his latent powers and attracted the attention of 
the whole American people. I heard him say once 
when he made a visit to Macon that there had scarce¬ 
ly been fifteen minutes in the day time when the White 
House did not call for him on the phone or other¬ 
wise. Mr. Wilson consulted him constantly as long 
as Mr. Bacon lived. The position which he occu¬ 
pied as Chairman of the Foreign Relations-committee 
in the Senate made his advice especially valuable to 
the President, in dealing with the vast questions con¬ 
stantly arising in our intercourse with the world. 

Mr. Bacon did not make friends with people at large 
like other politicians of the State. He lacked the 
ability to mingle with the populace and obtain their 
good will, so as to secure help in election contests. 

An illustration of this defect in his constitution came 
out once in Twiggs County, when he was running 
against Colonel James H. Blount for Congress. 

He was defeated in the race and in trying to ac¬ 
count for it this story was told by his friends: 
When he visited Twiggs County to address the people 
he met a good old-fashioned woman, sitting at the door 
of the court house. As he came up she held out to him 
several pairs of home-made socks, which she had knit- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


317 


ted herself and was trying to sell in order to make 
a little money for her personal necessities. 

When Mr. Bacon heard her earnest petition to buy 
and looked at the humble product of her labor he said 
to her gruffly: “No, madam, I don’t wear that sort 
of socks at all, and I don’t want them. I have no use 
for them,” and passed on. 

When his competitor, Mr. Blount, a few days after¬ 
wards visited the County he found the poor old woman 
also, seated near the court house, and when she ten¬ 
dered to him the rough product of her hands, he took 
them up to look at them and replied: “Why, yes, 
madam, I’ll buy your socks. It is the very thing I 
want. I’ll take a few pairs for my children also.” He 
paid her for them with a smile on his face. Many peo¬ 
ple saw the act and it spread like wildfire, so that the 
county went overwhelmingly for Blount. 

Mr. Bacon was very much attached to my son, 
Walter. He seemed to consider him a model young 
man and his heart appeared to go out to the boy. 

It is said that on one occasion when speaking about 
a war with Mexico he used about these words: “I 
would not give the life of one young man, Walter 
Harris, who lives in my city, for all the Mexicans 
south of the Rio Grande.” 

My service in the Senate was a delightful one. I 
was Chairman of the Judiciary Committee, which was 
composed of about sixteen lawyers, all of the profes¬ 
sion who were members of the Senate. I received con¬ 
stant evidences that the members of the Committee, 
as far as I now remember, felt considerable respect 
for their Chairman, and were at all times open to ad¬ 
vice and persuasion from him. If he got wrong they 
corrected him with the most delightful gentleness and 
courtesy. 

Governor Atkinson was at the head of the State 


318 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


and the most of his appointments were required to 
come before the Judiciary Committee. I had support¬ 
ed General Evans in the contest for Governor and 
the result was that Mr. Atkinson felt at first that I 
would prove no friend to his administration. I saw 
him at an early stage, however, and assured him that 
while I supported his opponent, I intended to aid him 
with my best endeavors, in making his administration 
a success. 

Pretty soon the test came. There was a vacancy in 
the City Court Judgeship in Macon. Judge John P. 
Ross was the incumbent and an applicant for re¬ 
appointment. He had failed to make friends with the 
bar by his work as Judge, and as a result the bar 
called a meeting and selected by a heavy majority L. 
D. Moore as the candidate that the Governor would 
be asked to appoint in place of Judge Ross. 

Judge Ross had supported Governor Atkinson in 
his race and was looked on as a strong friend of the 
administration. When the names came up to Govern¬ 
or Atkinson, I went to his office and told him that this 
appointment being in my own city I wanted at least 
to be consulted before he decided on the appointment. 

He told me plainly and straightforwardly that he 
intended to appoint Judge Ross, that he had already 
made up his mind. He added that the bar had no right 
to select a man for him; he intended to do his own se¬ 
lecting. I said in reply: “Governor, vou can’t have 
Judge Ross confirmed in the Senate without my con¬ 
sent.” He replied: “Pll show you that you are wrong 
about this. If you oppose him I will call on the whole 
Baptist Church to get behind him and thev will over¬ 
whelm and destrov any opposition.” I replied: “Why, 
Governor, Lloyd Moore is as good a Baptist as Judge 
Ross, and you can’t concentrate that great denomina¬ 
tion on your appointee alone.” With this I left him. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


319 


A few days afterwards he sent for me, and said: 
“Senator Harris, the people of Macon are asking to 
be heard on the appointment of the Judge. After 
thinking over it I have decided to ask you to sit with 
me and hear the several delegations as they come up 
to present their views on the appointment.” 

I replied: “Governor, it pleases me very much that 
you have decided to take this step with me. I will 
be glad to join you whenever you allow the delegates 
a hearing.” 

I sat with him in his office through all the hear¬ 
ings. The first delegation was in favor of Mr. Moore, 
and was largely attended by the bar and by delegates 
from the business portion of the city, many of whom 
had been his friends. They made a brilliant showing 
and, after it was over, the Governor began to express 
doubts as to the correctness of his former conclusions. 
He said: “I believe I will be compelled to appoint 
Moore.” 

I replied: “Governor, the hearings are not done. I 
am afraid you will go back to your old conclusion.” 

Sure enough after the next delegation was heard, 
which made a strong showing for Judge Ross, he said: 
“Senator Harris, I will be obliged to appoint Judge 
Ross.” But I said again: “Wait, Governor, another 
delegation is to come up—the strongest you have had 
yet, and you may change your mind.” 

When that delegation came up it was opposed to 
Ross. In it were some strong men, leaders at the 
bar, together with outsiders who were urging Mr. 
Moore’s appointment. Among the delegates from the 
bar was Colonel Olin Wimberly, of the firm of Steed 
& Wimberly, one of the leading law firms in Macon. 

Colonel Wimberly attacked Judge Ross as a Judge 
because of his plain friendship for the railroads. To 
me this was a thunderbolt. Colonel Wimberly was the 


320 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


Division Counsel of the Central Railway. He had 
been serving the Company for a number of years, draw¬ 
ing a large salary, and attending to a large business. 
He had tried a good many cases in Judge Ross’ Court, 
and when he attacked Judge Ross in this way it as¬ 
tounded me beyond measure. Continuing his argu¬ 
ment Colonel Wimberly said: “No outsider can gain 
a case in this court against a railroad. The Judge 
rules the law and allows the testimony to be presented 
in such a way as to control every case of this char¬ 
acter that comes before him.” 

He then appealed to the Governor to put a stop to 
such an unjust proceeding by appointing a man that 
would give a fair trial to any suitor that appeared in 
court. 

I may say here that I had been in the railroad serv¬ 
ice off and on since 1878. A large part of my living 
was made out of salaries and fees that the railroads 
paid me. When I heard a man similarly situated with 
myself, a large part of whose living was made out of 
these organizations, denouncing a man who had seemed 
to favor them in the court house, where almost every 
prejudice was arrayed against the railroads, I was com¬ 
pletely overwhelmed with astonishment for the time. 
When the hearing was over I went down the steps 
of the Capitol with my eyes dimmed with tears and my 
heart breaking with disappointment. I thought over the 
situation through the night and tried to decide as to 
my duty. If I allowed such an argument to prevail I 
felt that I would be a traitor to the best clients I 
served. I would have to give up my principles and 
fall back on the idea that the Judge should at all times 
join the jury in plundering railroads. 

The next morning I went to the Governor’s office 
and said to him: “Governor, I have thought over this 
whole matter, and I have come to the conclusion that 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


321 


if you want to appoint your friend, Judge Ross, to 
this position I will see that he is confirmed.” 

When I said this the Governor bounded to his feet 
and threw his arms around me, saying: “Harris, I 
knew you were a good man at heart, and would do 
what was right. I will appoint Judge Ross.” I said: 
“Governor, don’t send in his name until Monday. Let 
me go down and consult with my people, and when I 
come back on Monday if the appointment is in I shall 
no longer oppose it, but urge its acceptance.” 

Judge Ross never knew what had caused the change 
in my views. I gave notice to my people at home and 
on the next Monday, when the appointment came in, 
I asked that it be confirmed. 

Judge Ross had an uncle in the Senate—a true, gen¬ 
erous noble-hearted man. He had prepared for a 
battle and expected to have to meet me in the contest. 
I shall never forget the exhibition of gratitude, which 
he showed to me, when I made the move to confirm 
the appointment. He rushed across the Senate Cham¬ 
ber and taking my hand shook it with great vigor 
and with words that nearly broke up the session. 

I mav add here that the fierce criticism made bv the 
railroad lawyer before the Governor, if it was true, 
which I very much doubt, wrought its effect on Judge 
Ross and he went to the other extreme, joirling the 
litigants against the railroads and making every pos¬ 
sible ruling against them that the cases would allow. 

I repented, and when the next Judge was to be ap¬ 
pointed for the court I backed the then Governor into 
a corner and begged until T exacted a promise from 
him to give another man a trial in the place. 

So our good intentions react upon our own desti¬ 
nies and disappoint our fairest hopes. 

I stood by Governor Atkinson through all his ad¬ 
ministration. I caught up and confirmed his appoint- 


322 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


ments, one time meeting the President of the Senate 
and successfully overcoming his opposition to an ap¬ 
pointment. I closed my connection with the Senate 
with great regret and I had kept the good will of 
the Governor to such an extent that, when Mr. Hill 
was elected Chancellor, Governor Atkinson asked to 
be allowed to come into my firm to practice law. It 
was his purpose to move to Macon in order to do 
this. The matter was still pending when Governor 
Atkinson died. 

When the Spanish-American War came on Gov¬ 
ernor Atkinson was still in office and applied for a 
Brigadier General’s place in our armies. He was am¬ 
bitious to add a military feature to his civil career. 

Mv oldest son, Walter, was a member of the Ma¬ 
con Volunteers, when this war began and I was anx¬ 
ious to keep him from going into the service, as he 
was only a private in the ranks, but he seemed anx¬ 
ious and willing to go. His company had always been 
a patriotic organization and had a great reputation 
for gallantry and meritorious conduct. When it was 
finallv called out it was put into the First Georgia and 
sent first to camp at Griffin and then to Chickamauga 
for drill and discipline, my son going with them as a 
private. 

Typhoid fever soon broke out in the camp when the 
command reached Chickamauga, and a great deal of 
sickness resulted, as the camp facilities were exceed¬ 
ingly limited and sanitary conditions very poor. 

While my son was in camp his mother was taken 
down with tvphoid fever. Her svstem had been weak¬ 
ened greatlv, perhaps, by long continued attacks of 
asthma, recurring at intervals and with the uneasiness 
natural to a mother whose son was in the armv. She 
could not resist the inroads of the fever and died in 
twelve days after the attack came on. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


323 


She had made for herself a wonderful record by her 
benevolent regard for the people of the community. 
She was the mother of seven children, six of whom 
were living at the time of her death. Her charity was 
distributed both to her own race and to the colored 
people, and there was mourning among all classes 
when she died. 

Fifteen hundred people attended her funeral, col¬ 
ored and white. Many came to gaze on her face, 
while the coffin was laid out at the home and tears 
were shed by large numbers of sympathizing friends 
and acquaintances. 

The blow was a terrible one to me. After her burial 
I began to think about the boy at Chickamauga. Every 
day I saw reports showing the spread of sickness in 
the ranks, and I knew the hardships that he was under¬ 
going. I had previously sought information from 
military sources to ascertain whether or not he could 
he promoted from the ranks and given an officer’s 
grade. 

I even went to his Colonel and had an interview with 
him. In the progress of that interview I mentioned 
that I was sorry that I had not attempted to get Wal¬ 
ter a commission before he joined the ranks as a 
private. The Colonel replied, sharply: “It would 
have been no use for you to try. We are determined 
that these offices shall be filled bv men who have seen 
sufficient service in the National Guard to entitle them 
to promotion. You couldn’t have secured a commis¬ 
sion for him if you had tried. Your influence was 
not strong enough for that.” I then said to the 
Colonel: “Do you remember the morning that you 
came to see Governor Atkinson when vou asked to 
be appointed Colonel of the First Georgia?” He an¬ 
swered that he did. I said: “Do you remember that 
I met you on the steps of the Capitol and asked you 


324 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


if you really wanted the position, or were only apply¬ 
ing because you had occupied the office in the National 
Guard and felt that you were compelled by your sense 
of duty to ask for it whether you obtained it or not?” 
He replied that he remembered. Then I said: “Colo¬ 
nel, the Governor had seen me a few moments before 
and had told me that two men were applying for this 
office, one a graduate of West Point, the other Colo¬ 
nel Lawton, of Savannah, and he said to me, ‘If 
you were in my place which one would you appoint?’ 
I replied: ‘Governor, the West Pointer can get a po¬ 
sition elsewhere. Colonel Lawton comes from a fight¬ 
ing family. The war record of his father and all his 
people appeals to you in his favor. If I were you I 
would give it to him.’ ” Then the Governor said to 
me: ‘Go and find out for me if he really wants it and 
if he does I will give it to him.’ Then I saw you, 
and returning to the Governor told him what you 
said. If I had influence enough with the Governor to 
aid in the appointment to the Colonelcy of the Reg¬ 
iment, don’t you think I might have prevailed on 
him to give my boy a Second Lieutenancy in some of 
the companies?” And the Colonel looked surprised 
but answered nothing. 

After the mother died, and I had found out how 
wide was the difference between a private and an offi¬ 
cer in the United States service, a difference that never 
existed in the Confederate Army, where I had served, 
I began to reproach myself more and more and the 
horror of the situation came over me with an added 
weight. Then I saw in the papers a statement that a 
new regiment was to be raised for Georgia. I got up 
from the sick bed where I was lying, took the tele¬ 
phone in my hand and called the Governor at At¬ 
lanta. When he answered I said to him: “Governor, 
I see you are about to raise another regiment for Geor- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


325 


gia.” “Yes,” he replied, “that is true.” Then I said: 
“Governor, won’t you please give that boy of mine, 
who is in the Macon Volunteers, the position of a Sec¬ 
ond Lieutenant in the new regiment?” 

He replied: “What qualifications has he got for the 
place?” I said: “Governor, you are applying for a 
Brigadier-General’s place, are you not?” He said 
“yes.” I said: “What qualifications have you got for 
that place?” He replied: “Why, I graduated at the 
University, taking the military training under instruc¬ 
tors there.” I said: “Governor, my boy graduated at 
the University and took the military training there, 
also. If this qualifies you for a Brigadier General’s 
place, don’t you think it would qualify my boy for a 
Second Lieutenancy?” He answered at once: “Har¬ 
ris, the point is well taken. I’ll do better for him than 
you ask. I’ll give him a First Lieutenancy, and issue 
the order at once.” 

He did so, and my son was commissioned First Lieu¬ 
tenant, and as such went over to Cuba in the Third 
Georgia. He was afterwards promoted to a Cap¬ 
taincy, as heretofore stated. This was the practical 
starting of his military career, which his father at least 
will be justified in saying, has been very remarkable, 
reflecting credit upon the family as well as upon his 
own name. He was a Brigadier-General in the World 
War, carryng over the 31st Division to the scene of 
hostilities. 

It is perhaps proper to say here that my son worked 
out his military career on his own merits, without any 
assistance as far as I know, except the aoplication made 
to the Governor for promotion in order, as I thought, 
to save his life and insure better treatment than he 
could get in the ranks. 


326 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


THE CANVASS FOR GOVERNOR 

Many events occurred in my life antedating, and 
in a sense, leading up to my entry into the race for 
Governor. I had been speaking much throughout the 
State, delivering addresses at college commencements, 
at reunions of the veterans, on law cases, and on 
many other subjects. Bridges Smith, editor of The 
Telegraph, once published in the paper that I had, 
perhaps, delivered more addresses throughout the 
State than any man that lived in it at that time. 

Many suggestions had been made in the public press 
touching my political career; I was writing betimes 
for the papers and trying to keep in line with the bet¬ 
ter political progress of our Southern people. 

At this time two men were living in East Tennes¬ 
see, first cousins of mine by blood, as we were sisters’ 
children. They had grown up with me, though I was 
three years older than the elder of these, and some¬ 
thing over four years older than the other. My 
mother’s name was Edna Haynes, and their mother 
was Emma Haynes. My Aunt Emma had married 
Nathaniel G. Taylor some time before my mother 
was married to Alexander N. Harris. 

Both the husbands were Methodist ministers and 
were undoubtedly much attached to each other. When 
I was born, I was named after Colonel Taylor, and 
when my Aunt Emma’s next son was born, they gave 
him the name of Alfred Alexander, the middle name 
being after my father. 

Her next son was named Robert L. Taylor. My 
Uncle Nat became a great politician, figuring in the 
Whig Party, while my father was always a Democrat. 
The two Taylor boys divided in politics after the 
War, Alfred acting with the Republicans while Rob¬ 
ert joined the Democrats. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


327 


Alfred and I both became Representatives in the 
Legislatures and then Senators in the same bodies, in 
our respective states. I think I may say, for my part at 
least, that our childhood attachment for each other 
never ceased. Alfred went to Congress and his defeat 
for the nomination in one of his races gave his brother 
Robert a chance to take his place as a Democrat. 

While Alfred was in Congress there occurred an op¬ 
portunity to run for this place in Georgia in my Dis¬ 
trict and my friends, among whom was my class-mate, 
Judge Charles L. Bartlett, came to me and stated that 
I could be elected if I was willing to run. If I did not 
intend to run Mr. Bartlett told me that he would try 
for the place. 

As he was much younger than I was, he was kind 
enough to say that I ought to have the first chance 
and he was willing to wait and would support me. I 
immediately went to Washington, sought an interview 
with my kinsman, Alfred Taylor, who was. then a mem¬ 
ber of Congress, and talked with him about my enter¬ 
ing the race in Georgia. I told him that I believed 
that my election was certain, as the leaders of the party 
in that State had asked me to run. 

I begged him to tell me what he thought about the 
position. I must have met him when there was a 
great disgust upon him, for he immediately spoke up 
and advised me not to run. He said the position was 
not worth holding, that the man who had it was a 
slave to his constituency, that he was compelled to 
loan or give away to his constituents every cent of 
his salarv, that there was no chance to make any rep¬ 
utation in the place and that it was not worth the 
sacrifice necessary to get it and to hold it. He further¬ 
more added that he was so tired of the place that he 
would not seek it again and would not take it if his 
constituents handed it to him on a silver platter. 


328 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


I had faith in his judgment, went back home and 
told Judge Bartlett to run. He did so and held the 
position for twenty years in succession. 

Alfred remained in private life until he was elected 
Governor of Tennessee in 1920. 

When the belief came to me that I could be elect¬ 
ed Governor I went to East Tennessee and this time 
conferred with Robert L. Taylor, the younger of the 
two boys, with whom I had grown up. He had been 
Governor of Tennessee for three terms and had been 
in the Senate of the United States for some five years. 

When I saw him and told him that I thought there 
was a chance for me to be elected Governor of Geor¬ 
gia and asked him what he thought about it, he re¬ 
plied with readiness and enthusiasm: “Go on and run 
for it. It is a great office. I would rather be Gov¬ 
ernor of Georgia than of any other State in the Union. 
Get into the race without delay.” 

I had been approached by some of the leading poli¬ 
ticians in the State, who had been kind enough to say 
that they would give me their support if I should de¬ 
cide to run, and so I kept my great kinsman’s advice 
treasured up in my heart. He died a short time after 
this and the episode which followed his funeral I have 
already described in these memoirs. When I had fin¬ 
ished my short term in the Judgeship I went back into 
business with my firm, resuming some of the relations 
which I had resigned to go upon the bench. I con¬ 
tinued with the firm practicing in a rather perfunctory 
way, my sons and the other young men connected with 
the firm doing the principal work. 

I found out that where a man breaks off from the 
law at my age it is “worse than three moves and a 
fire.” I never felt the same zest as before, for the 
boys were fully able to look after the business and 
had gained the confidence of the clientele. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


329 


So in the early part of the year 1914 I finally made 
up my mind, using an expression that came in with Mr. 
Roosevelt, to “throw my hat into the ring” and enter 
the race for Governor. 

There were a good many candidates in sight, the 
principal were William J. Harris, of Cedartown, J. 
Randolph Anderson, of Savannah, and L. G. Hard' 
man, of Commerce; all former members of the Legis¬ 
lature and all strong men to be reckoned with and seri¬ 
ously considered. Of course a great many others were 
mentioned, but these three took the front. 

At a meeting of my friends at the court house in 
Macon, I laid the matter of my candidacy before them. 
They took various views about it. Colonel Joe Hall, 
who was a veteran member of the Legislature at that 
time and was engaged in a vigorous campaign to move 
the capitol to Macon, declared that I could not get 
a county in the State north of Atlanta, that the whole 
weight of Atlanta’s political organizations would be 
thrown against me and that I had just about as much 
chance to get the Governorship as a blue bird had to 
make his living in purgatory with his feathers well 
scorched. He reminded me how Atlanta had deter¬ 
mined that no Macon man should ever have the Gov¬ 
ernorship, pointing to Mr. Bacon’s three races, Mr. 
Guerry’s race, the short race of Judge Simmons, and 
others. The truth is Macon had never had a Gov¬ 
ernor, since McDonald’s time and he was not elected 
while a resident of that city. 

Some of the other gentlemen in the meeting took 
the view that the turning point might have been reach¬ 
ed and Macon stood a chance to get her candidate 
through. 

The first step I took, looking to the making of the 
race, was to interview the chief editors of the three 
leading papers in Atlanta; Clark Howell of The Con- 


330 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


stitution, James R. Gray of The Journal, and John 
Temple Graves of The Georgian. 

To Mr. Howell I mentioned the fact that his father 
was my steadfast friend and had voluntarily promised 
me his support for Governor, whenever I should an¬ 
nounce. To Mr. Gray I referred to the fact that my 
kinsman in East Tennessee had married among his 
wife’s people and I believed that he could support me 
without any sacrifice of principle. To Mr. Graves I 
did not urge any personal reason except that I wanted 
the place. He asked about my opponents and replied 
without hesitation: “This paper will support you, for 
I believe you deserve this honor of Georgia.” His 
paper kept his promise faithfully. One of the others 
started out for me, but its news service soon turned 
against me, though its great editor kept any attack out 
of its columns. The Journal fought me and its dis¬ 
tinguished editor joined the opposition. 

I felt that I ought to have the advantage over the 
other condidates at least in some degree because I had 
been the legal head and had aided in the management 
of the Georgia Tech for nearly thirty years. That 
institution had gotten itself into the hearts of the 
people of Atlanta. The largest number of its grad¬ 
uates had come from and were located in that city. 
Every one of these men had my name on his diploma. 
In fact, I may say here that being Chairman of the 
Board of Trustees of this institution aided me ma¬ 
terially in the race throughout the entire State. Over 
fifteen thousand boys who had attended the school 
while it was under my partial supervision lived in 
Georgia. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


331 


THE CAMPAIGN 

My next business after announcing myself as a can¬ 
didate was to rent an office, secure a local committee, 
and appoint a campaign manager. This was done and 
F. R. Jones, of Macon, was made the campaign man¬ 
ager. He was the son-in-law of Colonel John T. Boi- 
feuillet, editor of The News, a gentleman who had 
been Clerk of the House of Representativs for a 
score of years, and whose acquaintance in Georgia was 
second to few men in the State. He agreed to give me 
the benefit of his knowledge and counsel during the 
campaign. He has been a true friend to me through 
all the years that have passed since then. 

Rooms were secured on the second floor of the 
Georgia Casualty Building and the campaign began 
in regular order with circulars, photographs, and the 
usual suggestions that characterize an application to 
the voters of the State. 

I knew the cost of the campaign would be very 
'great and I prepared accordingly by making arrange¬ 
ments with the Macon Savings Bank to sell or hypothe¬ 
cate some securities which I owned and out of which 
I hoped to realize enough to pay expenses. 

In Atlanta St. Elmo Massengale was appointed by 
my friends to manage the campaign at that place. He, 
too, opened headquarters in that city for Atlanta, 
Fulton and DeKalb Counties. Then I proceeded to 
make a personal canvass of the State as far as prac¬ 
ticable, speaking in the various towns and cities, taking 
advantage of the meeting of the courts, the Judges be¬ 
ing always willing to give the candidates an hour or 
so at dinner time to present their views. 

I opened the campaign at Jeffersonville, in Twiggs 
County while the court was in session. I told the 
Twiggs people that I had always practiced in their 


332 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


midst, addressing their juries, and stood ready to aid 
the people in every undertaking which would be to 
their advantage in the State. I may say here that 
Twiggs County stood true to me in both the races I 
made for Governor as loyally and faithfully as my 
own county of Bibb. 

I have tried in Twiggs County some of the most im¬ 
portant cases that have ever fallen into my hands. One 
notable case was the prosecution of Tom Shaw and 
Warren Creswell for wrecking a Southern train at 
Stone Creek in said County. 

The cases against these men occupied, off and on, 
at least a month in the trial. W. F. Combs, a former 
law agent of the Southern Railway Company, wrote 
a large volume about these cases, which was published 
in London and New York in 1898. In this book was 
set out fully the steps that led to the detection of the 
train wreckers and the work of counsel in prosecuting 
and defending them. The Solicitor General, who was 
my friend, Colonel Tom Eason, allowed me to take the 
lead in the prosecution and the cases resulted in the 
final conviction of both men, Shaw and Creswell, for 
train wrecking and murder. They were sentenced to 
the penitentiary for life. The trial excited the inter¬ 
est of the county more than any case that had ever oc¬ 
curred within its boundaries since I commenced prac¬ 
ticing law. 

In the work referred to the speeches of counsel are 
set out, the ruling of the Judge, the decision of the 
Supreme Court, and the final judgments that sent the 
men to serve their life sentences. 

Three persons were killed in the wreck and about 
forty more injured, while two fine trains were destroy¬ 
ed. The wreck was caused by removing a rail on a 
trestle over Stone Creek and the motive that actuated 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


333 


both men was to kill or injure their wives who were 
on the train, in Creswell’s case to obtain the money 
arising from the damages to be paid by the road. Shaw 
was actuated by still another motive, namely, to get 
rid of his wife and enable him to marry a young girl 
whom he was courting, as a single man, in an adja¬ 
cent county. Taking it all in all, the crime com¬ 
mitted by these two persons was the most diabolical, 
heinous and terrible ever conceived in this part of 
the Republic. 

The trial of the case begot a great many friends 
for the counsel that prosecuted as well as for the em¬ 
ployees of the railroad whose cause was involved in 
the prosecution. 

After my opening address in Twiggs County I went 
to various other counties, delivering in all 162 speeches 
throughout the State. I tried to reach every county, 
but was unable to get to some of those lying on the 
borders of the State, notably, Lincoln, Towns, Rabun 
and Union. 

I was accustomed to say in these counties bordering 
on the Tennessee line that I was born in Tennessee 
and my ancestors had done much for the building up 
and advancement of that State and I was willing to 
stand on their record to assure the people that I would 
not fail to do my duty to Georgia, the State that had 
given me an asylum, when I was driven out from home, 
through the fortunes of the War. 

CHAINGANG GREETING 

While I was running for Governor the first time, 
I came one day to a county chain gang, working in the 
road, through which I was compelled to pass. While 
I was moving from one side of the road to the other, 
in order to secure a passage, a negro man came up to 


334 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


the automobile when I stopped it for a moment and 
said: “Judge, I’m a representin’ you here.” I said: 
“What do you mean?” He replied: “You sent me 
here.” I didn’t fancy the representing, but I suppose 
there are many judges about whom the same expres¬ 
sion could be used by the chain gang workers of the 
State. 


PROGRESS OF THE CAMPAIGN 

I could never get my opponents to consent to a joint 
debate. W. J. Harris wrote me that I had had more 
experience than he had in public speaking and he was 
not willing to meet me. Dr. Hardman contented him¬ 
self with refusing, saying that I was too old anyway. 
I think one of the principal planks in his platform was 
that I would die within ninety days after I was inaugu¬ 
rated, even if they elected me, and, therefore, it would 
bring double expense on the State. Colonel Anderson 
made no specific attack so far as I was informed, but 
contented himself with a reference to his own fine 
record in the Legislature and a promise of what he 
would do if elected. 

Mr. Harris made few, if any, speeches. He content¬ 
ed himself with writing for the newspapers, sending 
out periodic contributions to the press, in all of which 
he confined his attacks to me. Most of these were 
based on the fact that I had been a railroad lawyer, 
and, therefore, w r ould not be trustworthv if a railroad 
question came before me. He especially referred to 
the leasing of the State road that must come up in the 
next Governor’s term. I answered his attacks from 
time to time but went into the papers only once. 

He published a series of questions which he de¬ 
manded that I should answer. These questions in¬ 
timated so much unworthiness on my part to ask 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


335 


for the suffrages of the people that I felt constrained 
to answer them in the same public manner that they 
were asked, namely, through the papers. 

I sent, therefore, to the press the following state¬ 
ment with which I contented myself. It is proper to 
say here that in the heat of a canvass many things 
are stated that a sober second thought would never 
allow. Mr. Harris was bent on his candidacy and 
doubtless aimed his fiercest assaults on me because he 
thought that I was in the lead of his opponents. I 
have always felt this way about it. 

MY REPLY 

“That I may not be deemed discourteous to my op¬ 
ponent who has singled me out as the object of his 
fiercest attacks, I am willing to answer in a brief way 
this once, the several questions which he saw fit to 
propound in the statement published on the 31st ul¬ 
timo, to which I have referred. 

“1. He aske me whether I will deny that in April, 
1912, after a visit to the East, I gave to the news¬ 
paper a Carefully prepared statement, threatening 
that if Governor Woodroow Wilson should be nomi¬ 
nated for President on a platform which was not en¬ 
tirely satsifactory to him, he, Judge Harris, and others, 
would bolt the Democratic nomination. I answer him, 
‘Yes, I will deny this.’ 

“In the first place I did not visit the East in April, 
unless a visit to East Tennessee to meet the funeral 
train of my cousin, Robert L. Taylor, can be consid¬ 
ered a visit to the East, and I did not prepare a state¬ 
ment threatening that if Governor Woodrow Wilson 
should be nominated for President on a platform which 
was not entirely satisfactory to me, I and others would 
bolt the Democratic nomination. 

“I suppose Mr. Harris refers in his inquiry to an 


336 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


interview published in The Telegraph of April 6, 1912, 
in which speaking on the subject of National Initiative 
and Referendum, I discussed the tendency of the day 
to get away from representative government. In that 
statement President Wilson’s name was not mentioned, 
nor was he referred to directly in any way. I know from 
his published statements that he was on the same line 
with me as set forth in that article, and if Mr. Harris 
can show to the contrary, he will do more than any 
man in the South has yet been able to do. I closed that 
article with the following statement, which I commend 
to Mr. Harris’ careful attention: 

“ T have not yet reached the conclusion that the fathers were 
wrong. I believe that to abolish the feature of representative 
government, or if you please, to carry that doctrine too far so 
that the representative has no liberty of action, will not only 
embarrass our government by planting seeds of discord and 
dissension and raising a crop of weakness, demagoguery and 
imbecility, but will eventuate at an early date in the total de¬ 
struction of the American Republic and make it a thing of 
the past. I still believe that it is the best government the world 
ever saw. When the South seceded she carried the same Consti¬ 
tution with her and our fathers thought then that Constitution 
could not be improved upon, so far as its three great features 
were concerned: the independent legislative, judicial and exec¬ 
utive departmens. There will never be another statesman de¬ 
veloped if the docrine contended for is once set up in the 
government. The whole ourpose of the founders of the govern¬ 
ment would be overturned. 

“‘If the Democratic party is to commit itself to the doctrine 
and fee'* compelled to insert it in the platform nominating 
a m?n who pledges himself to carry it into effective operation, 
it will force many of us to sever our allegiance to the party in 
the next contest. I have never voted anything else but a Dem¬ 
ocratic ticket in my life. I have never bolted a nomination, 
but if I thought that the exigencies of the party compelled it 
to take up with a heresy like this, striking at the very founda¬ 
tion of the government, and bringing to naught all that we have 
fought for, and hoped for, and believed in for the last 125 years, 
I would simply give up the creed of my life and go to my tent 
in despair in my old age; for I know that this is one sure step, 
and a long one, toward the inauguration of the horrors of the 
French Revolution on this continent when all semblance of a 
free government would disappear and an absolute monarchy be 
erected on its ruins.’ ” 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


337 


. “The party did not depart from its ancient land¬ 
marks and I thank God that the great man who was 
elected on the platform, is the strongest champion of 
representative government that we have ever had in 
the high chair of State. 

“2. In his second question he asks, how I voted on 
the disfranchisement of the negro. 

“I voted for the Constitutional amendment passed 
by the Legislature in 1908. It prescribes the quali¬ 
fication of voters, dividing them into five classes. If 
this is what Mr. Harris means rtiy answer will cover 
his question. 

“3. His third question asks whether I will deny that 
in my opening speech at Macon I stated that my plat¬ 
form would be ‘you help me and I will help you.’ 

“I answer, ‘Yes, I did not use these exact words.’ 
My words were, ‘You do all you can for me and I 
promise to do all I can for you.’ 

“This, I said, was a sufficient platform among honest 
people and I have repeated it on every platform from 
which I have addressed the people. I expect to do 
so to the end of this campaign. I have explained this 
to mean ‘You do all the good you can for me, and I 
will do all the good I can for you.’ 

“It is the golden rule in politics and a greater one 
than Mr. W. J. Harris announced it some two thou¬ 
sand years ago. 

“4. His fourth question asks me if I will deny that 
at the meeting in Macon, placing me in the race for 
Governor, the resolution was offered by an attorney 
who has represented many interests before the Legis¬ 
lature. 

“The resolution was offered by Honorable Roland 
Ellis, a lawyer whose ability is unquestioned, who has 
served both as Representative and Senator from this 


338 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


vicinity in the Legislature, and whose eloquence is sec-, 
ond to that of no one in the State. 

“I do not know whether he ever represented many 
interests before the Legislature or not. I know that 
he served his State and country with fidelity in that 
body in both the Senate and House. 

“He has been my friend for years, and I hope will 
continue to be in spite of my opponent’s criticisms. I 
did not ask him to introduce the resolution. The meet¬ 
ing was without my request or concurrence and I was 
only notified to come into the meeting after the reso¬ 
lutions had been adopted. I did not even know what 
they were. 

“5. H is fifth question is if I will deny that the man 
who introduced me at Bainbridge, for many years rep¬ 
resented the Atlantic Coast line and other railroads, 
and that his son continues still to represent the rail¬ 
roads. 

“I answer, ‘I will not deny it, for I do not know.’ 

“I do know, however, that the Honorable John E. 
Donalson, who introduced me at Bainbridge is one of 
the largest farmers in Southwest Georgia, owning large 
plantations in Decatur and Dougherty Counties, to 
which he gives practically all of his time. I know that 
he was my school mate and club mate in college at the 
University, where my opponent and myself boch grad¬ 
uated. I know, too, that Mr. Donalson was with me 
in the Army of Virginia; that our young eyes saw the 
smoke, and we felt the shock of battle together, and 
our hearts rejoiced over the triumphs again and again 
of the Georgia boys in those awful conflicts. He was 
my friend at college, my comrade in the army and has 
been my life-long friend. He married the widow of 
the brother of my old commander, and God bless 
him—I hope he will live to see me inaugurated Gov¬ 
ernor of Georgia! 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


339 


“I have answered his charges about the railroad law¬ 
yer. 

“In conclusion, there is one other point made by him 
which I desire to notice: 

“He declares that, since the announcement of his po¬ 
sition, I have resigned as attorney for the Southern 
and Central railroads, etc., and he asks ‘Does not this 
action admit my contention?’ 

“I beg to state that I resigned before Mr. Harris’ 
position was announced. I did this on three accounts: 

“(i) I did not desire to drag the railroads into the 
contest for Governor. 

“(2) I did not wish to draw a salary for services 
that I was not rendering, and make a railroad assist 
in paying for a campaign that I myself was making. 

“(3) I did not wish the railroads to furnish me with 
free transportation in aid of my candidacy, preferring 
to be on an entire equality with the other candidates, 
and pay my own way. 

“I am sorry that he has seen fit to take the stand 
he has taken with reference to me. While these crit¬ 
icisms may serve to enliven the campaign, yet these 
matters are utterly distasteful to me and I wish sin¬ 
cerely that it was not necessary to speak as I have done. 
He knows in his heart that my former connection with 
the railroads will not stand in the way of the discharge 
of my duty to the State; that I have never betrayed 
a trust, nor neglected a duty where the public was con¬ 
cerned. It is only a question of integrity at last, and 
a lawyer, who has represented clients faithfully, would 
hardly sell out or betray a constituent like the State of 
Georgia, if he should be put at the head of her affairs.” 

Hon. Roland Ellis, who had always been my friend, 
wrote a letter to Mr. Harris, sending me a copy. 

I may state here that Mr. Harris soon passed me 


340 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


on the road to public preferment. He retired from 
the race for Governor some thirty days before the 
election came on. I have always regretted that he 
did not retire in my favor, but I suppose he could not 
do so and preserve his proper respect. He has now been 
in the United States Senate several years and bids fair 
to continue as long as he sees fit to run for the office. 
He counts me among his strongest friends, and my 
son, the General, is so much attached to him that he 
considers anything said to the Senator’s disadvantage 
as a reflection upon himself. Such are the whirligigs 
in politics. 

I do not think he ever had any unkind feeling to¬ 
wards me, and I know I never did towards him. I 
see in his face something that calls up my own 
people, and I shall always be glad to know of his 
triumphs, if for nothing else than that he is the son- 
in-law of General Wheeler, with whom I once marched 
at the head of his command in the war and whom I 
met more than once after the war. 

We used to claim kin with each other—the Senator 
and myself—before our little differences in the Gov¬ 
ernor’s race. 

INCIDENT AT KINGSLAND 

I have seen the audience frequently very much 
moved while I was speaking. I caught the fervor of 
the mountains at times, I think, and was able to put 
more stress on the appeals I made depending on the 
character of the audience and the place of delivery. 
I have experienced a great demonstration three times 
in my political career. Two of these I have already 
described. One occurred at Barnesville and the other 
at Hollonsville, both in Pike County, and both while 
I was running for the State Senate. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


341 


The last one occurred at Kingsland, in Camden 
County, when I was in this canvass for Governor. 

I do not mean to say that there were not other dem¬ 
onstrations of interest shown during my races for Gov¬ 
ernor, but the one at Kingsland stands out in my mem¬ 
ory much more vividly than the others because mv 
wife was present. 

When I reached Kingsland the good people had 
erected a stand for speaking and provided a barbecue. 
A large crowd, therefore, was present, for I found 
that the people would always congregate when they 
were offered something to eat. The compassion of 
our Lord taught us how appropriate it is to feed the 
people when hungry. 

When 1 mounted the stand to begin my address I 
saw that the citizens had gathered a large number of 
old soldiers, who lined the back of the stand for a 
setting to welcome me. They came forward to shake 
hands, and among them I saw a gentleman whose face 
appeared familiar to me. As I shook hands with him 
I said: “It seems to me, Sir, that I have met you 
before. Your face is familiar.” Then he replied: 
“Yes, Sir, I think we have met before. I was at Get¬ 
tysburg. I charged up the heights there that day and 
I hear that your regiment was there. Yes, I think 
we’ve met before. Yes, we met at Gettysburg.” 

I was still holding his hand when he used these 
words, and I turned around to the audience and in the 
gush of the unexpected enthusiasm I commenced to de¬ 
scribe the charge of the Southern soldiers up the fate¬ 
ful heights at Gettysburg. I do not know what else 
to attribute the effect on the people other than to the 
fact that I held the hand of one of my old comrades 
as I was speaking. The entire audience seemed to be 
overwhelmed and tears and sobs resulted. I think 
there was not a dry eye in all the vast crowd and among 


342 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


it all I saw my wife burst into tears, bend her head 
down to the back of the bench in front of her and 
shake with convulsive sobs. 

The papers got hold of the incident and published 
it throughout the State. It put a glamour on my can¬ 
vass in Camden which never passed away. I carried 
the county both times by heavy majorities. 

I spoke during the canvass on the same platform at 
different times with Governor Slaton, Governor Hard¬ 
wick and candidates for other inferior offices. The 
two mentioned were running for Senator. 

Governor Slaton delivered a very fine address, hav¬ 
ing the advantage of a long legislative career and a 
service in the Governor’s office that was, perhaps, as 
successful as that of any that had preceded him in 
many years. He looked after the finances of the State, 
carefully collected its revenues, and spread its credit to 
the bounds of the Union. He made the way easier for 
his successor for he left a full treasury and the record 
of a splendid administration. 

In Mr. Hardwick’s case I was attracted by one ex¬ 
pression which he threw out in every address. He was 
absolutely certain of election and in explaining that 
certainty he would state: “I have fought thirteen 
pitched battles in my time and never was beaten yet. 
I’ll not be beaten now.” And he was not. 

We spoke together at Bowden College, on the 4th 
of July, where a great barbecue was prepared for the 
crowd. Mr. Hardwick opened the speaking. He 
stated to me at the beginning that he knew it was usual 
for the candidate for Governor to lead off, but he said 
he was anxious to keep an appointment at Carroll¬ 
ton that day, and if I would let him speak first he would 
go on to Carrollton and announce my coming so that 
I could follow him there. 

Of course I consented, but Mr. Hardwick has one 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


343 


failing when he begins to talk he has no sense of the 
lapse of time. He stopped just fifteen minutes be¬ 
fore the barbecue was to be announced. The dishes 
were already rattling on the table within our hear¬ 
ing, when he said his last words to the crowd. He 
gave me only fifteen minutes in which to discuss my 
cause. I remained over for the barbecue and then in 
an automobile rushed over to Carrollton. A great 
fair was going on and the people of Carrollton had 
allowed only a certain time for the speaking in the 
assembly hall adjacent to the grounds. 

When I entered the hall and went upon the stage 
Mr. Hardwick was in the midst of one of his strong¬ 
est appeals and it went entirely out of his mind, I 
presume, that I was to have anything to say. At all 
events he closed just five minutes before the bells rang 
for the races. 

By the time the audience was settled after he con¬ 
cluded I had only about one minute left me. I said: 
“My distinguished friend has taken up all the time 
in setting forth the merits of his case. My country¬ 
men, his cause needed it. Mine does not, and I leave 
it with you that its justice may appeal to you when you 
come to the ballot box,” and with these words I con¬ 
cluded. 

He and I both lost the county. His long speaking 
didn’t save it for him, and my short speaking didn’t 
secure it for me, but the final end was that both were 
elected. 

The primary was held on August 19th, 1914. Under 
the rule of the party the election was decided by the 
county unit vote, that is to say, the majority or plu¬ 
rality of the votes at the polls did not control, but 
the election was determined by the number of coun¬ 
ties carried, each county having twice as many votes 


344 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


in the convention as it had members in the lower House 
of the Legislature. 

When the count was completed the vote for Gov¬ 
ernor stood as follows: 

Harris popular votes, 90,308; unit votes 192. 

Hardman popular votes, 74,125; unit votes 148. 

Anderson popular votes, 40,724; unit votes 32. 

One hundred and eighty-six unit votes were neces¬ 
sary to a choice, as a majority was required to elect. I 
had, therefore, received six more votes than a ma¬ 
jority and had the right to expect the convention to 
declare me the nominee at once. 

There were tw r o terms for Senator voted on—one 
the long term and the other a short term for about 
four years—the incumbent having died. 

For the long term Senator Hoke Smith received 
I 34)9^3 popular votes and 350 unit votes, while Gov¬ 
ernor Brown received 69,778 popular votes with a 
unit vote of only 22. For the short term of Senator 
there were five candidates. 

Slaton received 68,724 popular votes, with a unit 
vote of 141. 

Hardwick received 64,799 popular votes, with a 
unit vote of 122. 

Felder received 33,65o popular votes, with a unit 
vote of 91. 

Hutchins received 26,706 popular votes, with a unit 
vote of 18. 

Cooper received 9,890 popular votes, with no unit 
vote. 

It will be seen that no one for the short term Sen¬ 
ator received a majority of the unit votes. Under these 
circumstances the convention was required to select 
the nominee from the candidates that were running. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


345 


CONVENTION CONTEST 

I had well hoped that when the official vote was de¬ 
clared it would end the struggle, but it seemed that my 
hopes were not well founded. Mr. Anderson prompt¬ 
ly telegraphed me his congratulations. Dr. Hardman 
made no sign and showed no purpose to accept the 
verdict at the polls. 

At one time in the history of our conventions when 
W. J. Harris was presiding as Chairman, it was said 
he had ruled that the instructions from the counties 
bound the delegates only for the first ballot, holding 
that after that was taken if there was no election the 
candidates could vote as they saw fit. 

Rumors began to go through the State that Hard¬ 
man was preparing to make a contest, filing objections 
to some of the returns and arranging with other del¬ 
egates to be absent from the hall when the first call 
was made. 

It will be seen by reference to the votes above, that 
Senator Hoke Smith had carried the State by an over¬ 
whelming majority. Under the rules of the primary 
the candidate for Governor who carried the county 
had the right to select the delegates, but they must 
all also be supporters of the Senator carrying the coun¬ 
ty. In many of the counties I carried Dr. Hardman man¬ 
aged to have delegates appointed who were friendly 
to him and who would be expected to vote for him 
on the second ballot, if there was no election on the 
first. 

I believed that the conspiracy became wide-spread 
and a determined effort was to be made in the con¬ 
vention to turn down the leading candidate and pre¬ 
vent an election on the first ballot. 

I remember about this time there was a reunion of 
Confederate Veterans, at a place in Upson County 


346 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


called “The Rock.” I was asked to address the meet¬ 
ing and did so. After I had finished my address I 
said to the crowd of old soldiers and others, that 
while I was elected Governor by the people and the 
counties, there was a deep conspiracy to take the elec¬ 
tion away from me in the convention; and there were 
threats to throw out some of the votes so as to defeat 
the will of the people. 

When I made this statement the old boys rose to 
their feet almost with one accord and cried out: 
“Judge Harris, if this is attempted let us know and 
we’ll come to the convention with our guns in our 
hands. We will not suffer such a thing to happen.” 

On the morning that preceded the convention, which 
was held in the city of Macon, I met Mr. Gray of the 
Journal in company with Mr. McCord, who had been 
Senator Smith’s manager, near the door of the Demp¬ 
sey hotel. Colonel Gray stopped me and said: “Judge 
Harris, we have determined to contest your election 
and you will not go in without: a struggle.” 

I replied: “I have heard something of this and 
would be glad to know on what ground the contest 
is to be made and why.” Mr. Gray replied: “We do 
not think you have been fair in appointing delegates 
from the counties carried by Mr. Hardwick.” “Well,” 
I said, “Colonel Gray, how is the contest to be made?” 

“Well, Sir,” he replied, “we have determined to seat 
the contesting delegation from Gilmer County. That 
will knock you out of two votes, and exceptions are 
filed to the election in other counties, so that the ma¬ 
jority will he cut down.” 

I replied: “The seating of the contesting delegates 
from Gilmer will do you no good, for I received every 
vote in the election in Gilmer County except sixteen, 
so that both delegations are instructed for me.” 

“Ah,” he said, “I didn’t know that.” 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


347 


“Well,” I replied, “there are several things, prob¬ 
ably, that you do not know, and I hope to be present 
when the contest comes off.” 

That same night a caucus of my friends was held 
and into that caucus came General Travis, Chairman 
of the Anderson delegation from Chatham, and claim¬ 
ing to speak for all the Anderson delegates. 

He stated unequivocally that Mr. Anderson had 
asked his delegates to vote for me on the first ballot 
and not to put his name before the convention. Of 
course if this program was carried out my election 
could not be defeated without too much apparent chi¬ 
canery and fraud. 

An incident had occurred that same afternoon, which 
to me threw some light on the situation. Senator 
Smith reached the city that afternoon, and, surround¬ 
ed by his followers, walked from the Southern depot 
to the Dempsey hotel. Just before he arrived at the 
hotel my son, Walter, said to me: “Papa, hadn’t you 
better go down and meet the Senator when he reaches 
the hotel?” The Senator and I each had headquarters 
in the Dempsey hotel. I replied: “Yes, I think that 
is right. I carried the State for Governor and he cer¬ 
tainly carried it for Senator, and I ought to welcome 
hinT to my town.” 

I went down to the vestibule, where I found things 
so crowded with such a clamoring concourse of dele¬ 
gates and politicians that I could not get through to 
the door. Walter proposed to make a way for me, 
but I said: “No, mv son, I’ll slip out along the walls 
and try to get to the front by the time the Senator 
reaches us.” 

I had scarcely spoken when he appeared in the door. 
He towered above evervthing and was immediately 
recognized and the crowd set up a great shout of wel¬ 
come and turned towards the door. Senator Smith 


348 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


stood for a moment in the door looking oyer the crowd 
until his gaze rested on me. In an instant he com¬ 
menced pushing towards me, his arms going both ways 
like two great levers. The crowd fell back and in an 
instant more he came up to me and in plain view of 
the whole shouting assembly, threw his arms around 
my neck, drew me up to him, and said in my ear: 
“You have always told me that you wanted to be Gov¬ 
ernor of Georgia. I am glad that you are going to 
realize your ambition.” Of course one may under¬ 
stand that these words made a deep impression; I 
could hardly speak in reply, and the tears blinded my 
eyes. 

The foolish reporters, who were mostly on the side 
against me, in speaking of the occurrence in the papers 
next morning stated that I had thrown my arms around 
the Senator as if to placate him and secure his help. 

Afterward the thought came to me that perhaps Sen¬ 
ator Smith had merely yielded to a momentary en¬ 
thusiasm and that he had spoken under the impulse of 
the moment because I was an old Confederate sol¬ 
dier. I knew that whatever else might be said of. him 
there was no man more loyal to the memories of the 
days of the sixties than he was. His uncle was a Ma¬ 
jor-General in Lee’s Army where I served, and we 
had often talked about those old days. 

So I said to myself: “I’ll go down to his headquar¬ 
ters this morning and see how he feels after he has 
met his friends who all seem to be against me.” 

When I entered his room I found there Senator 
Hardwick, Col. Gray, Major McCord, and one other 
gentleman whose name I have forgotten. I asked them 
as I came in the door if the Senator had gotten up as 
yet. They replied: “No, he hasn’t come out of his 
room.” I said to them: “With your permission I will 
go into his room and speak to him.” He was occupy- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


349 


ing a connecting room to the one I had entered. I 
started in, but he had heard my voice, and coming out, 
without speaking to me a word of greeting, he put his 
hand on my shoulder and said: “Come with me.” He 
went up to the persons in the room and said: “Gentle¬ 
men, I desire to make this remark and I want it heed¬ 
ed, for I mean it. I would rather have this man for 
Governor than anyone else who lives inside the State 
of Georgia. Let there be no misunderstanding between 
us.” 

Of course this overwhelmed me, and I could do no 
more than thank him, turn and leave the room. Both 
McCord and Gray followed me. McCord spoke first. 
He said: “Judge Harris, I didn’t support you in your 
race, but after the statement just now made I want 
to say to you that you shall have my support from now 
on, not only in this convention, but if you run again 
you can count on my being at your side.” Colonel 
Gray shook hands with me, also, and said: “After 
Senator Smith’s statement you can count on my help, 
Judge Harris.” 

Of course there was nothing more said about a con¬ 
test. Senator Smith had nine-tenths of the conven¬ 
tion friendly to his interests and ready to fight for 
him with heart and soul, so that, as soon as it became 
known that he wanted me for Governor, the oppo¬ 
sition frittered away and the result: was that my name 
was the only one that went before the convention; Dr. 
Hardman, himself, seconding my nomination. This 
nomination was of course equivalent to an election, 
as there was no candidate against me, both Democrats 
and Republicans supporting me on the day of the reg¬ 
ular election. 

It may be proper here to state that Governor Slaton, 
though he had a plurality of both popular and county 
unit votes, failed to get the nomination. The contest 


350 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


lasted for more than a day and was finally settled by 
giving the nomination to Mr. Hardwick. 

This result of the voting in the convention created 
considerable discussion throughout the State and led 
mainly to the passage of the Neel Act, which provides 
a second race for the two highest candidates when 
there is no election by the people. 

Governor Slaton was so much disturbed by what 
seemed a very unjust ending to a brilliant race on his 
part, that he was ready to blame many people be¬ 
sides those directly concerned in his defeat. When I 
saw him at the hotel after the result had been declared, 
not knowing that he had taken any offense from matters 
with which I was concerned, I went up to him to shake 
hands and to tell him how much I felt for him in his 
defeat and to encourage him to look forward to a 
come back in the future. He refused to shake hands 
with me and turned his back on me in the presence of 
a large crowd. 

A terrible trial was preparing for him, to occur 
within the nine months left him in the Governor’s 
office. 

The celebrated case of the State against Leo Frank 
was coming on for trial in which Colonel Reuben Ar¬ 
nold and Colonel Luther Rosser, the latter of whom 
was formerly in partnership with Governor Slaton, 
were defending the prisoner, while the prosecution was 
in charge of Hugh M. Dorsey, Solicitor General, and 
F. A. Hooper, as associate counsel. 

The case grew out of the murder of a young girl 
named Mary Phagan, working in a pencil factory, over 
which Frank was Superintendent. It was believed by 
the people that Frank had assaulted the girl first and 
then slain her to conceal the crime. 

A great deal of testimonv was introduced on both 
sides, and all the ingenuity that counsel could think of 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


351 


was brought to bear on the one hand to persuade the 
jury of the prisoner’s guilt, and on the other to show 
his innocence* of the crime. 

The excitement became so great during the trial, 
that it was with difficulty the sheriff and his assistants 
prevented a mob from taking the prisoner out of the 
courthouse for summary punishment. The temper of 
the people became so uncertain that, after the argu¬ 
ment of counsel and the charge of the court, the Judge 
himself advised the counsel for the defense to remain 
away from the courthouse and let the verdict be taken 
without their presence or that of their client. This 
direction was followed and the jury promptly found 
a verdict of guilty and the prisoner was sentenced to 
hang. 

Leo Frank was a Jew and his conviction stirred up 
a great commotion throughout the entire country. The 
Jews raised considerable sums of money to aid the de¬ 
fense in the effort to set aside the verdict and save the 
prisoner’s life. The case went to the Supreme Court 
where the judgment was affirmed with two members of 
the court dissenting. 

Propaganda nation-wide was begun at once. It was 
said by our Jewish citizens that no Jew had yet been 
hanged under the American Government since its 
foundation, and it was earnestly desired that there 
should be no exception made by the hanging of Frank. 
The papers were crowded with communications. News 
stories and even editorials followed, urging that the 
life of the prisoner be saved. No such widespread in¬ 
terest was ever shown in any similar case in Georgia 
within the recollection of the oldest inhabitant. The 
matter even got into the State Legislatures. The Ten¬ 
nessee Legislature passed a resolution asking that 
Frank’s life be saved. Likewise the Texas Legislature 
passed a similar resolution. The case was carried to 


352 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


the Supreme Court of the United States, where the 
judgment was affirmed by a divided count. 

After the affirmance of the judgment an application 
was made to Governor Slaton for a reprieve and a 
commutation to imprisonment for life. Petitions were 
signed in almost every community in the State and al¬ 
most every State in the South. Petitions and letters 
poured into the Governor every day and a dreadful 
hysteria went through the Nation. 

It was known, of course, that I was to succeed Gov¬ 
ernor Slaton in June. As a former member of his 
firm had defended Frank it was thought the Governor 
might reprieve him and leave me to pass on the ques¬ 
tion of commutation. I think possibly that an inter¬ 
view, which I gave to some of the papers caused those 
who were most interested in obtaining a commutation 
to urge that Gov. Slaton should pass on the matter with¬ 
out putting it over to me. This interview simply stated 
that I thought that outside interference of the kind 
which came from Tennessee and from Texas was 
neither proper nor allowable if decency was to be kept 
in view, for I believed that Georgia and her authori¬ 
ties were fully competent to decide concerning the ad¬ 
ministration of her criminal laws without suggestions 
from outside her hounds. 

I have felt that possibly this interview, which was 
purely accidental and was had without any ulterior 
designs whatever, may have caused an extra pressure 
to be brought on Governor Slaton to handle the mat¬ 
ter in his term. He was told, I afterwards understood, 
that it would appear to the world as an act of cow¬ 
ardice if he failed to take up and decide the matter, 
as the whole case had originated in his term. Gov¬ 
ernor Slaton had no drop of blood in his bodv that 
was tinged with cowardice. That I found out by un¬ 
mistakable demonstration afterwards. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


353 


While the matter was pending before the Prison 
Commission and before the Governor, several promi¬ 
nent men took part in the proceedings. Governor 
Joseph M. Brown appeared before the Commission 
and urged that the law be allowed to take its course. 
He lived in the town where the unfortunate young girl 
was born and brought up. Solicitor-General Dorsey 
put all the w r eight of his influence and intellect into 
the opposition to the granting of commutation. Coup- 
ter petitions were filed and strong arguments were 
made on both sides. The Prison Commission refused 
to recommend mercy and the case went to the Govern¬ 
or without recommendation. He took it up quietly 
and determined to commute. When I saw him he re¬ 
ferred to my interview concerning outside interferences 
and used the old expression: “A decent respect for the 
opinions of mankind should be shown by every man in 
office.” 

When he used this expression I began to believe 
that he intended to commute. He knew there was dan¬ 
ger to the prisoner, and when he had made up his 
mind to grant the application he quietly sent Frank 
out of the city and put him in the penitentiary and then 
announced his decision. 

The result brought on a condition of affairs in At¬ 
lanta and the adjacent territory such as I have never 
seen and never heard of in all my reading or ex¬ 
perience. 

It will be easily understood that the papers in Geor¬ 
gia had taken up and discussed a matter that had 
created so much interest throughout the Nation. Among 
these papers was The Jeffersonian, a periodical edited 
and published by Hon. Thomas E. Watson, of Mc¬ 
Duffie. He had not hesitated to set forth the fact that 
this was a poor working girl whose dishonor and death 
were brought about by Frank, and that a Governor’s 



GOING TO THE INAUGURATION 
Ascending the Capitol grounds with the Legislative Committee and friends. 




AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


355 


intervention in such a case to prevent the due course of 
the law would put him alongside the criminal, so that 
he, himself, would deserve the condemnation of man¬ 
kind. These publications added to the unparalleled 
feeling of bitterness among the citizens; caused the 
gathering of mobs in almost every part of the county, 
and brought about such a state of affairs that no per¬ 
suasion or remonstrance could control the situation. 

The gathering of these mobs, the threatening let¬ 
ters,. and the angry demonstrations on every hand, 
caused the governor to declare martial law and place 
military guards around his home and his office. This 
was the state of affairs when the day for my inaugura¬ 
tion was reached. 

On the morning of the inauguration a large dele¬ 
gation of friends and acquaintances, with a battalion 
of the National Guard came up from Macon to attend 
the ceremonies. Among these, also, was a large part 
of the Masonic Lodge, Number 5, of which the newly 
elected Governor was Master. A permit had been ob¬ 
tained from the Grand Master to allow the Lodge to 
attend in a body, if it so desired. 

A large procession was formed at the depot with 
my wife and I at the head in an automobile, and 
went through the city to the Capitol while vast crowds 
lined each side of the street. 

The usual joint session of the Legislature was called 
for the inauguration and the sitting Governor was re¬ 
quired by custom to march with the incoming Gov¬ 
ernor and a committee from the two bodies, to the 
House of Representativs, where the inaugural address 
was to be delivered and the new Governor sworn in. 
Governor Slaton and I walked arm in arm up the 
steps to the second floor and then arm and arm down 
the aisle to the stand where the oath was to be taken. 

Judge Ogden Persons, the President of the Senate, 


356 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


presided oyer the joint meeting. Mr. Burwell was 
Speaker of the House. In the course of the cere¬ 
monies it became necessary for the outgoing Governor 
to tender the Great Seal to me as the incoming. When 
Governor Slaton rose to perform this duty there be¬ 
gan in the galleries a fearful interruption. Hisses, 
growls and threatening words followed as almost the 
entire gallery rose from the seats. 

Quick as lightning President Persons rushed to the 
front of the stage, pounded with his gavel and an¬ 
nounced in stentorian tones that any further demon¬ 
stration would cause the clearing of the galleries and 
the immediate putting out of every disorderly person, 
and he called on the Sergeant-at-Arms to keep order 
and point out any offender. 

The prompt action of President Persons stopped the 
demonstration and his strong and vigorous words held 
back the people. After this the ceremony was com¬ 
pleted without further interruption. Bishop Candler 
had opened the meeting with prayer and when Chief 
Justice Fish prepared to administer the oath, I handed 
him the Bible that my dead mother had given to me 
years before and which I had treasured as one of the 
sacred objects, showing her love for her oldest son. 
He then put it in my hand and upon this Bible the oath 
was taken. 

After the delivery of the inaugural address Gov¬ 
ernor Slaton and I passed down the steps arm in arm 
to the Governor’s reception room. I could see people 
on the stairs and in the vestibules gnashing their teeth, 
shaking their heads, and exhibiting various evidences 
of hostility, hissing' continually as we walked down. 
I have said often that Governor Slaton pressed my arm 
so strongly that it became blue afterwards from the 
bruises, though he did not appear to realize in any way 
that he was doing so. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


357 


When we reached the Governor’s reception room 
the Governor went back into his own room, taking with 
him his wife and no one else. Here, it was said he 
bade farewell to the scenes among which he had ming¬ 
led for the last two years. 

We had been invited to a dining, given to me by 
the people of Macon in the Hotel Ansley, and while 
I was waiting in the outer room the Governor sent 
word by one of his staff that he wished to go with 
me down the steps, asking me to walk with him to 
the place where we would enter the automobile. 

We came out through the door opening on Wash¬ 
ington Street and marched down together to enter the 
automobile near the sidewalk. Governor Slaton en¬ 
tered the automobile first and just as I was preparing 
to follow him a strong, rough looking man darted out 
from the crowd holding in both his hands a large piece 
of iron pipe about, five feet long and an inch thick. 
He raised this to strike the ex-Governor over my head 
and shoulder. He could not have reached him with¬ 
out hitting me. Instantly Major Polhill Wheeler, who 
was in command of a battalion of the National Guard 
at Macon that had come up to attend the inaugura¬ 
tion, leaped forward, seized the hands of the man, who 
was striking and turned aside the blow, saving Govern¬ 
or Slaton and myself from a terrible injury or perhaps 
death. The man was immediately put under arrest 
and sent to the lock up. 

Major Wheeler went over to France, performed a 
conspicuous part in the great contest there, and re¬ 
turned home with distinction. 

He is dead now, but his memory will never be for¬ 
gotten, by me at least. I served with his father, who 
was City Engineer while I was City Attorney for many 
long years. He was an old Veteran, a staunch up¬ 
right gentleman, and his son was a worthy descendant 
of a noble father. 







GOING FROM THE INAUGURATION 
Descending the Capitol steps with Governor Slaton. 



























AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


359 


I had not realized that the bitterness against Gov¬ 
ernor Slaton had reached such a point as to give rise 
to an attack of this sort in public. The man’s face 
looked like a demon’s as he raised the deadly instru¬ 
ment to strike. 

We started moving into the mansion a few days be¬ 
fore the inauguration and, on one of these nights 
preceding the inauguration, runners came to the man¬ 
sion after twelve o’clock at night and stated that a mob 
was out with the intention of blowing up and burning 
the mansion and dynamiting the capitol. Advice was 
given to the children, who were sleeping in the man¬ 
sion, in the absence of Mrs. Harris and me: “Leave 
it by all means, and get. to some place of safety.” This 
the children did in the night, but the mob failed to 
put in an appearance. 

INVESTIGATION AND MARTIAL LAW 
CONTINUED 

The first duty that I performed as Governor after 
reaching my office in the afternoon of the day of the 
inauguration, was to call down before me the Chairman 
of the Judiciary Committee of the House, with some 
members of the Legislature, to investigate the ques¬ 
tion of continuing the service of the military under 
Governor Slaton’s proclamation of martial law. 

I found on my desk a petition addressed to me con¬ 
taining some eighteen hundred names asking that the 
guard be withdrawn from Governor Slaton’s house and 
that the military be discharged from further service. 
I called before me the Sheriff of the County, the Chief 
of Police, and a number of deputies and policemen, all 
of whom were Questioned concerning the real situation 
in the City. The Sheriff informed me that there ex¬ 
isted a large band of men who had recently met a 


360 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


snort distance across the Fulton County line, in Clay¬ 
ton County, in the night time. They had built up a 
large fire and around it, after speaking in fierce and 
denunciatory terms of Governor Slaton, had pledged 
themselves to kill him as soon as they could reach him. 
The Sheriff added that one of his deputies, whom he 
had sent out for investigation, was in the crowd, and he 
had returned informing him of the meeting and the 
death compact. He stated that Governor Slaton was in 
great danger and it would be folly to dismiss the mili¬ 
tary guard. 

The Chief of Police concurred in this conclusion, 
giving a number of other facts going to show the state 
of feeling within the City. It was further alleged 
that a mob, determined on the same thing, was waiting 
in Cobb County to attack the Governor if the guard 
was withdrawn. 

After these facts had been developed I stated im¬ 
mediately, without waiting for advice from the mem¬ 
bers of the Legislature present, that I would not dis¬ 
charge the military nor put an end to the declaration 
of martial law, but on the contrary would order an 
additional battalion of the military to hold themselves 
in readiness for immediate action, and on any dem¬ 
onstration against the Governor’s home, march to the 
assistance of the other guards. I further directed that 
the machine guns should be brought out to the Gov¬ 
ernor’s residence to be used in case of a serious attack 
by the mob. 

My precautions were found to be justified within a 
very short time after these steps were taken. I had 
told the National Guard to load their pieces with ball 
cartridges, but not to fire unless absolutely necessary, 
and then only to save life. 

Either the same night when these precautions were 
taken, or a night or two afterwards, a mob, said to 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


361 


amount to five thousand people, marched out to Gov¬ 
ernor Slaton’s house for the purpose of attacking it. 
That night the guard was under the direct command 
of Captain Asa G. Candler, Jr., and when he saw the 
mob approaching he drew up the troops in line of 
battle and awaited the approach, telling his men not to 
fire unless it was necessary to prevent the break¬ 
ing of his line. 

The mob plunged itself against the troops and be¬ 
gan to strike at the soldiery with all kinds of weapons. 
Within ten minutes after the attack sixteen men in 
the military were wounded and disabled, but the sol¬ 
diers had not yet fired a shot. They pushed the mob 
back with their guns without firing. At one time Cap¬ 
tain Candler directed his men to fire, as the mob ap¬ 
proached, but looking down in the direction in which 
their guns were pointed he saw a large number of car¬ 
riages and automobiles loaded with women and chil¬ 
dren coming in behind the mob. He immediately call¬ 
ed his men to halt and directed them to hold their fire. 
Then he shouted out to the mob some such words as 
these: “What in the — did you bring the women along 
for ? Our shots would kill more of them than they would 
of you.” The soldiers arrested every man as he came 
up they could overpower, without firing, sending them 
to a temporary guard house, where the Governor kept 
his automobile. Twenty-seven men were imprisoned 
before the mob was driven off. 

On the next day a report of the result was made to 
me in the office and a large assortment of the weapons 
that had been captured was brought, in several bas¬ 
kets, for exhibition. 

There was every character of weapon that could be 
conceived of, almost. Old fashioned pepper-box re¬ 
volvers—revolvers with cap and lock—knives and 
dirks, saws and hatchets, with some modern guns and 


362 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


pistols. These were disposed on the floor of the Gov¬ 
ernor’s office and certainly I never have seen such an 
assortment before or since. A large basket of dyna¬ 
mite sticks accompanied the weapons. 

On that morning when I got to the office I was 
called over the telephone by a lady in South Atlanta 
who said: “Governor, you’ve got my husband under 
arrest, and I want you to send him back to me. I am 
living in a negro neighborhood and am afraid to stay 
all night by myself. Please turn him loose and let him 
come back to me to take care of me. Please do, Gov¬ 
ernor, and Pll never forget it.” 

I told her I would do all I could about it. The 
twenty-seven men were carried down to the jail by the 
military, and I telephoned the sheriff, asking him 
whether the man mentioned by the lady was among the 
prisoners. He replied that he was. And then I told 
him what she had said to me, and asked if the man 
could give bond. If so, to arrange to send him home, 
fixing the bond himself. He took the matter up—ar¬ 
ranged a bond with security, and sent the man back to 
his wife. 

The raid of the mob created a terrible excitement 
throughout the City. The good people of Atlanta 
began to take a hand. Steps were inaugurated to stop 
the insurrection. Meantime I consulted with Gov¬ 
ernor Slaton’s friends and suggested that if he would 
leave the City things would settle down sooner. He 
flatly declined to leave, stating that if I could not 
continue the military guard he would try to raise one 
himself. He was not going to allow a mob like this 
drive him away from home. 

I rejoiced in his courage, and I didn’t by any means 
condemn his judgment. After this demonstration there 
were no further open efforts made to injure Governor 
Slaton, so far as my information extended. He did 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


363 


not go out of the house at the time the attack was 
made. The attack was about two o’clock in the night 
and he was never disturbed through it all. Next morn¬ 
ing when some of the military told him the circum¬ 
stances and referred to the twenty-six or twenty-seven 
prisoners held in the guard house, he said at once that 
he did not believe the men meant to kill him—that 
they had no such purpose, for he had certainly done 
them no harm and he asked permission to go down 
before the prisoners in the guard house and speak to 
them. This, of course, was allowed him. When he 
entered the door the prisoners rose up and a fierce 
snarl greeted him. He stood still for a moment then 
turned, and the soldiers that were present told me that 
it looked like his heart was breaking. He had never 
believed in their bitterness until then. 

I directed the prisoners to be held until the Civil 
authorities could take charge of them and try them. 
And at the end of about ten days Governor Slaton de¬ 
termined to travel through the country with some of 
his people on a vacation. 

The underlying cause of this terrible demonstra¬ 
tion—the record of which is the blackest blot on the 
State’s escutcheon—was the belief on the part of the 
laboring people and their friends and sympathizers 
that the extreme punishment for the crime against a 
young laboring girl was not allowed to be inflicted, and 
the weight of the disappointment caused the unseem¬ 
ly acts of the mob in order to demonstrate the de¬ 
termination to punish the offender as well as the ex¬ 
ecutive who had commuted his sentence. It taught me 
and the people of the State that where a crime in¬ 
volved an assault on the virtue of a woman, neither 
fear of law nor the guns of the military can hold back 
the mob that seeks to punish the offender. Bars and 


364 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


bolts do not count in the presence of such an assem¬ 
bly. 

The disgrace to the State—without a parallel in the 
annals of our free Government—weighed nothing with 
the wild crowds that rushed forward to destroy prop¬ 
erty and take away life. 

Governor Slaton had committed no crime against 
our statutes. He had exercised a prerogative which 
the Constitution of our State bestowed upon him. He 
had only saved a human life for the time being, and 
no court or tribunal on earth could charge him with 
more than a mistake in judgment. 

I think he would have left the matter for my de¬ 
cision but for the fact that he felt it as a duty both to 
himself and to the incoming administration to settle 
the question concerning a matter that had arisen wholly 
within his term. I do not know what I would have 
done under the circumstances about the commutation, 
but I will always feel grateful to Governor Slaton that 
he did not subject me to the ordeal of passing on the 
matter. 

Someone asked Governor McDaniel what Governor 
Harris would have done in the case if it had been 
left to him. The Governor replied promptly: “He 
would have let Frank hang, for I, myself, and his 
other friends, if it had been necessary, would have sat 
up with him night and day until he refused the com¬ 
mutation.” 

I can never express my admiration for the splendid 
way in which Captain Candler handled the attack. His 
courage and coolness, his patience and his success in 
quelling the mob has never been equaled, within my 
knowledge. 

The matter as to Frank did not stop with this at¬ 
tack on Governor Slaton. Within about a month after 
I had come into office, one of the men serving a life 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


365 


sentence, in the penitentiary for murder, secretly ob¬ 
tained a carving knife from the kitchen and sharpen¬ 
ing it until it. would cut like a razor, slipped out of 
his bed in the great community room, where a large 
number of the white prisoners slept, and going to the 
bed of Frank in the dead of night, cut Frank’s throat 
from ear to ear in an effort to kill him. 

When the report came to me I went down to Mil- 
ledgeville with a member or two of the Prison Com¬ 
mission and the Adjutant-General to examine into the 
affair. After reaching the penitentiary I asked the 
keepers to send Creel, the convict who had done the 
cutting, into a room that I might question him alone 
to ascertain, if possible, the motive that actuated him. 
The authorities immediately said to me: “Governor, 
it will not be safe for you to meet Creel alone. He 
is a dangerous man now, and your life might not be 
safe.” Thereupon General Nash, the Adjutant-Gen¬ 
eral, offered to go into the room and be present with 
me and look after the situation. We met him, and 
when I asked Creel who and what caused him to com¬ 
mit the act he replied: “It was impressed on me that 
the presence of Frank here was a disgrace to the pen¬ 
itentiary. No one guilty as he is should have been al¬ 
lowed here, and I thought I was acting with the sanc¬ 
tion of heaven when I tried to get rid of him.” 

I questioned him carefully but could prevail on him 
to give no further information. I reached the con¬ 
clusion, however, that he had expected his conduct 
would be so well approved by a large class of citizens 
outside the penitentiary that they would immediately 
ask the Governor to pardon him if he killed the man. 

I suppose some such idea as this was in his mind. 
How or from what source it got there I never could 
tell. When I returned to my office in Atlanta after the 
investigation I found a petition signed by a consid- 


366 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


erable number of people, asking me to pardon him be¬ 
cause he had tried to kill Frank. 

After Creel’s effort failed to get rid of the prisoner 
the matter took a different turn. I was informed that 
a mob had gathered in Cobb County and was intend¬ 
ing to proceed to Milledgeville for the purpose of 
breaking into the penitentiary to carry out the orig¬ 
inal purpose of the mob. When the information reach¬ 
ed me I telegraphed at once to Captain Ennis, in charge 
of a company of the military at that point, and directed 
him to take steps to protect the penitentiary against 
the threatened invasion. He called out his company 
promptly and was on hand to do his duty. By some 
means notice of this precaution reached the leaders 
of the mob and the affair was abandoned for the time 
being. 

The matter got into the papers and certain parties 
in Marietta determined to call an indignation meeting 
in order to protest against the effort of the Governor 
to fix such a stain upon Cobb County. I was told 
afterwards that such meeting was abandoned because, 
while the parties were on the way to the courthouse, 
somebody was kind enough to say: “We had better 
go slow about this matter; an investigation will result 
and the truth will come out and the truth will show 
that the Governor was right.” So the meeting was 
abandoned. 

I may say here in passing that when I went to ex¬ 
amine into the attack made on Frank by the convict 
Creel, I went into his room while the doctor was dress¬ 
ing the wound. The gash extended from ear to ear 
and was so frightful in appearance that I wondered at 
his being alive. While the doctor was washing the 
wound Frank coughed, and I asked the doctor imme¬ 
diately, with a good deal of sympathy in my voice: 
“Won’t that wound attack his lungs before it heals?” 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


367 


When I asked this, Frank laughed—a queer sort of 
laugh—a laugh that showed, at least to me, a hard, 
careless heart, and the doubt, which I had about his 
guilt, was lessened greatly, as I heard the laugh, and 
looked into his face. I could not help the impres¬ 
sion. Looking back on it now I do not see why I should 
have been impressed, but I felt then that the man was 
undoubtedly a hardened criminal or a reckless prisoner. 

About a week or ten days after the proposed gath¬ 
ering in Marietta, which my precautions had stopped, 
there came to me a telephone message around eleven 
o’clock at night, telling me that a mob had attacked 
the penitentiary—had taken Frank from his cell, and 
was returning with automobiles towards Marietta, 
carrying the prisoner with them. 

As quickly as I could get into communication with 
the telephone lines I sent message after message over 
the country between Milledgeville and Marietta, call¬ 
ing upon the sheriff of every county through which it 
was probable the party would pass, directing them to 
arrest any and all persons coming into the town at 
that time of night in automboiles and communicate with 
my office at once. 

From several of these places the sheriff replied: 
“The parties have just passed through on their way 
north in automobiles.” Evidently some deflection was 
made for I had put the sheriffs in Bibb, Monroe, 
Jasper, Morgan, and all the other counties on notice, 
telling each sheriff that I would sit up through the 
whole night, and directing the arrests to be made and 
reports to be sent in at once. My precautions were un¬ 
successful this time. I was informed afterwards that 
the parties reached Cobb County some few miles from 
Marietta where they stopped—took Frank out of the 
automobile, and hanged him to one of the trees near 
to the place where the young girl was raised. The mob 


368 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


had very little mercy on him. The wound on his throat 
had not yet healed, but they tied him and threw him 
into the automobile with little care for his sufferings. 
It was said they did not even allow him to put on his 
clothes, but brought him in his night clothes to the 
place of execution, some one hundred and thirty-five 
miles through the country. 

Investigations of a very strict character followed 
this unfortunate event. It is said to have been the 
only case known in the United States where a pris¬ 
oner was taken from the penitentiary by a mob to 
be lynched. Generally, after a judicial sentence for 
a crime, it is considered that the question of punish¬ 
ment had been settled. Imprisonment for life is fre¬ 
quently substituted for a sentence of death in our gen¬ 
eral administration of criminal law. 

I offered a reward amounting to some twenty-five 
hundred dollars for the discovery and punishment of 
the persons engaged in the lynching and I called down 
the Solicitor-General and the Attorney-General for 
conference with me and begged the Judge to appoint 
a special session of the Superior Court, with the grand 
jury present to investigate the transaction. This was 
done, and the Attorney-General attending the sessions 
took charge of the investigations, making it as wide 
and thorough as possible. 

Not a bill was returned—not a word to aid the 
Governor in an effort to punish the guilty. So many 
persons believed the lynching just that they looked on 
the investigation as merely perfunctory and treated it 
as a farce. 

The investigation at the penitentiary at Milledge- 
ville was likewise without substantial result. The mob 
had taken the precaution to cut the telephone and tele¬ 
graph wires running to the penitentiary, before the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


369 


raiders appeared. When they reached the grounds 
they arrested all persons in charge, among others two 
of the Commissioners, confining them under strict 
guard until the penitentiary had been entered and the 
prisoner carried away. Something was said by some 
of the raiders about setting Creel free, but the better 
opinion prevailed and this part was abandoned. The 
locks were broken but no serious damage was done to 
the doors. I reached the conclusion, after full ex¬ 
amination, that the presence of Frank was a fearful 
burden to all of the authorities, as the continual threats 
of violence kept them uneasy and they submitted the 
more readily to the vis major, when convinced that 
the attack was irresistible and the result inevitable. 
The penitentiary was not built to keep people out, 
but to keep them in when put there. So the attacking 
party had little difficulty in reaching the man they 
came after. 

I reported to the Legislature that it was much to be 
regretted that separate cells had not been made for 
the several inmates. Life-termers like Creel and Frank 
ought to have occupied separate apartments, built with 
steel doors and other appliances used in first class 
prisons. It was replied by the Commissioners that the 
Legislature had failed to supply the money for these 
cells, and I recommended that the matter be taken up 
by the Legislature without delay, and funds supplied 
for the work. 

I would be glad if this whole transaction, including 
the attack on the Governor and the lynching of the 
penitentiary convict could be expunged forever from 
the history of the State. It was brought about: 

First, from political exigencies and divisions. 

Secondly, from'overheated, ill advised and unfor¬ 
tunate publications in the newspapers, especially in the 
periodical published at Thomson. 


370 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


Thirdly, from a mistaken notion, that had gone out 
through the immediate neighborhood, that the assault 
and murder of a poor working girl was not properly 
punished and made conspicuous in the administration 
of the law in the courthouse, and; 

Finally, the race prejudice, which grew up from the 
efforts made through the nation to save Frank from 
the punishment due to his supposed crime, aroused such 
a feeling of indignation in the State that nothing could 
withstand the assaults that followed. Neither bolts, 
bars, bayonets; neither fear of the law nor dread of 
popular indignation, had any effect to hold back the 
avenging arm of an aroused and outraged people. As 
the case was without parallel in judicial annals, so the 
punishment of the offender was alike, unparalleled in 
the history of the nation’s judicial administration. 

There was no limit to the falsehoods that were cir¬ 
culated concerning the action of Governor Slaton and 
those connected with the defense of Frank. When the 
minds of the people start out to seek for motives and 
ascertain the reasons for conduct, on the downward 
scale, there is no accounting for results. After I took 
charge of the Governor’s office a check for a consider¬ 
able sum was sent to my care to he delivered to Govern¬ 
or Slaton, purporting to be part payment for his serv¬ 
ices in behalf of Frank. The check was a pure fake, 
as I went to the trouble of ascertaining that there was 
not a dollar in the bank at Baltimore, on which it was 
drawn, to the credit of the person who sent the check. 
I have never even mentioned the circumstance to Gov¬ 
ernor Slaton, for a balder fake, a more disreputable 
disgraceful effort to fix on an innocent man an odious 
charge without foundation was ever before perpe¬ 
trated in this land. It only illustrates to what depth 
the diseased mind of certain dissatisfied people can 
reach. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


371 


When I began the effort to find the members of the 
mob, who were guilty of the lynching, my own mail 
became crowded with anonymous letters threatening 
me with all sorts of punishment. Some of these let¬ 
ters bore postmarks as far off as Texas and Okla¬ 
homa, and other Western States. I turned a few over 
to the District Attorney for investigation, as the mails 
were abused in carrying the same, but nothing ever 
came of it. I think the authorities looked on it as 
too much of a joke to justify profound effort to dis¬ 
cover the writers. 

LEGISLATIVE ACTION AND PROHIBITION 

The Legislature this year met on June 23rd. It was 
organized by electing William H. Burwell, Speaker of 
the House, and G. Ogd^n Persons, President of the 
Senate. John T. Boifeuillet was continued Clerk of 
the House by unanimous vote, and D. F. McClatchey 
was unanimously continued Secretary of the Senate. 

Business was opened in both houses by reading the 
message of Governor Slaton. Annexed to this mes¬ 
sage was a list of pardons, commutations, paroles and 
respites granted by the outgoing Governor, during the 
preceding year, as required by the Statute. Among 
these was a statement of the evidence, etc., in the trial 
of the Leo M. Frank case in Fulton Superior Court, 
who was found guilty and sentenced to be hung on 
June 22nd, 1915. 

This statement begins on page 66 of the Georgia 
Senate Journal of the session and on page 73 of The 
House Journal. In this statement the reasons that 
actuated Governor Slaton are fully set forth, accom¬ 
panied with a fair synopsis of the entire evidence and 
a history of the case showing the various steps taken 
in the same. 


372 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


The Governor in enumerating his reasons for the 
commutation used these words: 

“This case has been marked by doubt. The trial 
judge doubted. Two judges of the Supreme Court 
of Georgia doubted. Two judges of the Supreme 
Court of the United States doubted. One of the three 
Prison Commissioners doubted. 

“There is a territory beyond a reasonable doubt and 
absolute certainty, for which the law provides in allow¬ 
ing life imprisonment instead of execution.” 

This action of the Governor, giving commutation, 
was dated two days before the meeting of the Legis¬ 
lature. 

The Legislature during its session did not mention 
the Frank case in any way. 

At an early date in the session, bills were introduced 
in both Houses providing for amendments to the Pro¬ 
hibition Law. 

This law was passed during the term of Governor 
Hoke Smith, in 1907. It contained a sweeping pro¬ 
hibition against the sale and manufacture of alcoholic, 
spirituous and malt liquors. 

While the bill was on its passage an amendment 
to it was voted on making the jury judges of the ques¬ 
tion whether the liquor manufactured or sold was intoxi¬ 
cating. Out of this amendment, which the liquor in¬ 
terests secured, came about the failure of the law. It 
was the Trojan Horse that entered the walls and 
turned loose in the State the innumerable hosts that 
destroyed the value of the statute. 

“Near beer” manufacturing multiplied throughout 
the State and its use and sale constituted a pretense to 
cover up the sale of intoxicants everywhere. The 
saloons, as soon as the law was understood, were 
thrown open and liquor of all kinds was manufactured, 
kept and sold in defiance of the law. The Solicitors- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


373 


General in many cases throughout the State announced 
they were unable to secure convictions, and indict¬ 
ments and arraignments under the prohibition law be¬ 
came merely a farce, as the jury promptly turned loose 
every man indicted for offenses against this law, under 
the idea that the near-beer and non-intoxicating liquors 
made it doubtful in every case whether the prohibition 
law had really been violated. When the Legislature 
took up the question it was soon apparent that the most 
desperate efforts would be made to prevent the pas¬ 
sage of any law at that session, to remedy these de¬ 
fects. 

The first bill, headed Senate No. 38, passed through 
the Senate prohibiting, among other things, the ship¬ 
ment of intoxicating liquors into the State. It came 
over to the House—was sent to the Temperance Com¬ 
mittee and when brought up in the house originated a 
filibuster that lasted for some ten days or more. There 
were present in the House about thirty-five members, 
who were strongly opposed to any prohibition legis¬ 
lation. These men, organized and led by parts of the 
delegations from Fulton and Chatham, began the most 
determined resistance to prevent a vote on the measure. 
The usual tactics were employe!. Day by day the 
House was kept in session transacting no business of 
importance whatever, but spending the time calling 
the rolls on dilatory matters, such as motions to ad¬ 
journ, motions to limit debate, motions to lay on the 
table, and all such matters used to kill time and pre¬ 
vent action. 

At an early stage of the legislative session, an or¬ 
ganization had been brought about in the House on 
behalf of the Prohibitionists to counteract the effort 
of the liquor caucuses at the Kimball House under 
what has been since termed the “invisible govern¬ 
ment,” set up by these forces at that place. 


374 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


In bringing about this organization of the Prohi¬ 
bitionists there came upon the scene one of the most 
remarkable men that our State has produced in many 
a year. 

Colonel Thomas B. Felder had for a considerable 
time represented the liquor interests in Georgia. He 
had given to that work all the resources of his power¬ 
ful intellect, all the experience he had gotten as a 
former legislator in both Houses, and all the ease of 
advocacy learned in the handling of a large practice 
at the bar, throughout the State of Georgia. 

He had, like myself and a large number of others 
in Georgia, become a genuine convert to the prohibi¬ 
tion cause. No man knew the ways of the “liquor- 
bund” better than he did. To atone for his former 
advocacy of this cause he determined to do something 
to rescue his State from the hands of these liquor in¬ 
terests. I have heard it stated that he had in fact 
drawn the amendment to the Act of 1907, which 
brought about its failure in the State. When he start¬ 
ed on the new pathway he had marked out, he came 
to the Governor’s office, told him the situation—made 
a frank statement of his change of heart and mind, 
and gave him to understand that he had determined, 
if in his power, to wipe out the liquor trade in Geor¬ 
gia and make the old State absolutely dry. Associated 
with him in the effort among the citizens of Atlanta 
were W. S. Witham, the banker; John J. Eagan, the 
philanthropist; Eugene Callaway, funeral director and 
capitalist, and W. Woods White, life'insurance leader. 

The organization met at stated intervals, and I am 
not certain but that a member of the Senate presided 
over the deliberations. I was informed that ten men 
from the Senate, led by Dr. A. S. J. Stovall of the 30th 
District, joined the organization and met with the 
men from the House. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


375 


Ninety-seven members from the House united in 
this crusade, pledging themselves in the strongest terms 
to work to secure the necessary legislation to remedy 
the evils of intemperance, so disastrous to our State. 

Colonel Felder attended each gathering of this as¬ 
sociation, advising, urging, and encouraging these 
men to do their duty in the emergency that was now at 
hand. 

It is my purpose to annex to these memoirs a list of 
these ninety-seven members and the ten members of 
the Senate, if possible, who, uniting together for the 
good of their country, brought about a legislative rev¬ 
olution, the parallel of which has never been known 
in our Nation. 

When it was seen that the filibuster could not be 
stopped and that the legislation proposed by the pro¬ 
hibitionists could not be secured, these ninety-seven 
men in the House and ten in the Senate began to work 
to bring about an adjournmnt of the Legislature, with¬ 
out passing the bills for revenue or the appropriations 
to carry on the government, so as to compel the Gov¬ 
ernor to call an extra session of the body. 

Under our Constitution a Legislature can hold only 
fifty days in any one year. The Governor, however, 
has authority to convoke extra sessions, when some 
necessity arises requiring such a call. In making this 
call the Governor includes only the subjects which he 
desires the legislature to take up and consider. His 
proclamation calling the session and setting out the 
subject-matter for consideration is the law of the Leg¬ 
islature in these special sessions and the body cannot 
go beyond the terms set forth bv the Governor. 

The present session was required to adjourn under 
the Constitution on August I ith, at midnight. At that 
time the session ended no matter what was left un¬ 
done. 


376 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


It will be noted that the Governor at last is the 
final arbiter touching the matters to be considered at 
a called session. While there is no limit to the time 
that may be occupied by the called session, yet it has 
generally been understood and in fact it is so provided 
in the Constitution, that the Governor, at the request 
of either House, may declare the session at an end. 

The ninety-seven men in the House, therefore, were 
trusting their cause to the Governor, for if he should 
fail to include the prohibition question in his call the 
Legislature which met would have no power to con¬ 
sider it. 

One of the causes which led up to the final action 
which was taken, arose from the fact that the rules 
committee which belonged by a strong majority to 
the anti-prohibition side, steadfastly refused to put 
on the calendar for passage Senate Bill No. 38 to pro¬ 
hibit transportation into the State of intoxicating liq¬ 
uors, a bill which had been passed by the Senate on 
August 3rd, about the time the filibuster began. Speak¬ 
ing to a question of personal privilege, Mr. Full- 
bright, Chairman of the appropriation committee, 
stated that the filibuster had unnecessarily delayed the 
appropriation bill in the House and prevented its pas¬ 
sage, if it failed. It went over to the Senate only four 
or five days before the date fixed for adjournment. 
The Senate, however, when it got the bill, devoted 
extra time to its consideration, and would have been 
able to send it back to the House on the last day of 
the session but for the action of the House in ad¬ 
journing at the morning session of that day. 

It is noteworthy that the House took up a large 
portion of the last day in considering a long amend¬ 
ment to the charter of the city of Atlanta, while the 
Senate consumed a portion of its time on a new char- 
er for the city of Douglas. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


377 


When I ascertained that the Legislature was about 
to adjourn without finishing the business of passing 
any appropriation to support the government I sent 
a message to the two Houses, urging them to con¬ 
tinue in session and finish the work before them. The 
House, which had already agreed on its program, 
showed me enough respect to read the message, while 
the Senate, which was in harmony with me and op¬ 
posed to adjourning, left it lying upon the table with¬ 
out reading, so far as the record shows. The message 
was in the following words: 

“Gentlemen: L have been informed that it is the 
purpose of one branch of the General Assembly to 
cease business at one o’clock today. 

“This, of course, will necessitate an extraordinary 
session. I have urgently insisted, both to the House 
and the Senate, the avoidance of this result. 

“The results of such a proceeding are so far reach¬ 
ing that I had hoped the Legislature, in its sound 
second sense, would join with me in the effort to avoid 
it. 

“I earnestly counsel that the House remain in ses¬ 
sion and attempt to go through with the business that 
is required by the Constitution before the time limit 
is reached at 12 o’clock tonight. 

“If an extraordinary session is called, none of the 
work of the present session can be used, and all of it, 
therefore, will be practically lost to the State, so far 
as any measures that the Governor might see fit to 
include in his proclamation, are concerned. 

“It is not possible, under the decisions of the Attor¬ 
ney-General, to utilize in any way the work that has 
been done on pending measures, at the call of an ex¬ 
traordinary session. 

“I most earnestly beseech you, therefore, that you 
continue in session and attempt to carry out the object 


378 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


of the Constitution and discharge the duties which 
you owe to the State and to yourselves under your 
oaths as legislators.” 

The truth is the House had agreed upon a pro¬ 
gram formulated by the immortal ninety-seven. This 
was done without consultation with the Governor and 
without his advice or knowledge. 

It was the last extremity to which the House was 
reduced in the effort to provide a remedy against the 
awful evils of the liquor traffic, which in the face of 
law and the sentiment of the State, was turning loose 
upon the State a deluge of intoxicating liquors. There 
was no other course left to the Legislature, unless the 
effort should be abandoned entirely, and the men who 
were concerned in the effort to amend the law did not 
belong to the class of those who enter upon a fight 
only to abandon it when opposition develops. I have 
thought this ninety-seven, acting in what appeared to 
be direct opposition to the requirements of their oaths 
and the interests of the government, presented a pic¬ 
ture of the old martyrs, for they were ready to offer 
up their political lives and reputations to stop the con¬ 
tinuance of a traffic, which they knew was sapping the 
foundations of law and good government and ruining 
the lives and destroying the hopes of the people of the 
State, who yet believed in righteousness. 

The House adjourned sine die at one o’clock p. m. 
on the last day. The Senate continued in session fur¬ 
ther that day, working on the appropriation bill so as 
to put prohibition in the call without giving the anti¬ 
session shortly after three o’clock. 

And now the Revolution was fully under way. The 
Legislators sought their homes and left to the Gov¬ 
ernor any further steps necessary to complete the work. 

They knew that the Governor in his heart was fav¬ 
orable to the efforts being made to banish liquor and 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


379 


liquor drinking from the State. They trusted him, 
therefore, to complete what they had thus begun. 

It can easily be conceived that the action of the 
Legislature created a profound sensation in every com¬ 
munity in Georgia. Men began to divide in opinion 
as to the wisdom of the proceeding on the part of the 
Legislature, though the division of sentiment on the 
value of prohibition, I really think, was not very wide 
among the white people of the State. 

THE CALL OF THE EXTRA SESSION 

When the Legislature had adjourned and the public 
began to look over the field, it appeared that not very 
much had been done to relieve a pressing situation in 
the State. A sort of a panic had come upon the peo¬ 
ple. Cotton had gone down in price to the smallest 
figure known since the Civil War. For the first time 
in the knowledge of older inhabiants a bale of cotton, 
when put on the platform of a railroad, commanded 
no sale and brought in no money to its owner. Many 
of the farmers refused to pick the cotton in the fields 
and allowed it to rot without gathering. It would not 
pay the wages of the hands to pick it. Not very much 
time had passed when the people of the State began 
to exercise themselves about the call of a special ses¬ 
sion of the Legislature. It soon became a burning 
question, whether the Governor would include the sub¬ 
ject of prohibition in his call or bring the Legislature 
together simply to make the appropriations necessary 
to run the State government. If the Governor decided 
to put prohibition in the call without giving the anti- 
prohibitionists a chance to be heard he would have sub¬ 
jected himself to much censure and criticism. If he 
began to grant hearings to the side against prohibition 
he must of necessity allow the other side also to be 
heard. 


380 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


As a consequence arrangements were made to re¬ 
ceive delegations representing both sides of the ques¬ 
tion and allow full hearings before announcing a de¬ 
cision. It was deemed proper to give as much notice 
as possible of the time fixed for the special session, 
so that the Legislators could make arrangements about 
their business and be ready to come to Atlanta when 
required. 

This fact was impressed upon the Governor’s mind: 
If the question was decided without the friends of 
prohibition becoming interested and doing something 
in its favor so that they could feel that they were en¬ 
titled to some credit for the result, then if the Leg¬ 
islature should pass a strong prohibition measure the 
next Legislature would almost certainly repeal it. 

So the hearings began. Chambers of Commerce 
from the cities, business organizations throughout the 
State, Sunday school associations, churches and con¬ 
ferences, all asked to be heard. The liquor people 
made a strong showing for their side. They took the 
position that to stop the sale of intoxicating bever¬ 
ages would injure the business of the State, already 
suffering with panic, and would bring about a more 
deplorable condition in the State’s business affairs than 
had ever been known. It was claimed that a large 
amount of money had been invested in the purchase 
of liquors and in the preparation for the sale of the 
same within the State and outside the State. Members 
of the press put in an appearance—many of the owners 
of newspapers, editors and correspondents, all took 
up the side of the liquor interests, fearing the results 
if a stringent prohibition law was passed. 

When the liquor forces came before me they pre¬ 
faced their statements by claiming that they had al¬ 
ways considered me to be a reasonable man, possessed 
of a desire to do the fair thing, with knowledge enough 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


381 


to understand the fair thing when it was presented 
to me. After their arguments were finished they 
closed the discussion by saying: “If you will leave 
out prohibition from your call you can stay in this 
office as long as you please or go up higher if you 
see fit.” They then added: “Governor, we mean what 
we say, and we have the power to make our promises 
good.” 

It can be well understood from such a suggestion, 
that the opposite effect would follow if prohibition was 
put in the call. 

Those who appeared upon the other side addressed 
the Governor’s sense of right and justice. The people 
thought they had a prohibition law but had found 
out that it could not be administered with success. They 
begged me, therefore, to come to the rescue of the 
State in which I lived; to the protection of the women 
and children; of the homes of the land, and the poor 
fathers and brothers that had not strength to resist 
temptation when the fiery beverage was held out to 
them. The W. C. T. U., representd by Dr. Mary 
Harris Armor, Mrs. Dillard, and others, came before 
me and urged upon me the necessity of carrying into 
effect the purpose of the members of the Legislature, 
who had inaugurated this campaign to make Georgia 
dry. 

I heard the speaking without closed doors. The 
Governor’s office was open during this time to the en¬ 
tire State. The preacher was set over against the 
liquor dealer; the Church against the business inter¬ 
est; the home against the saloon; the prohibitionist 
against the champion of liquor selling. 

One day while these hearings were going on I was 
sitting in my office when a woman stepped in through 
the open door. She had some remnants of beauty, 
but her dress showed that she belonged to the common 


382 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


people. There was a worn look on her face and her 
eyes sought mine as if she had come in her distress to 
beg some favor or help of the Governor. 

She began her petition in these words: 

“Governor, I come to see you about this here pro¬ 
hibition. I understand that you are hearin’ from peo¬ 
ple so’s to make up your mind about it.” Then she 
approached nearer and her eyes clouded up somewhat 
as she said: “Governor, I want you to put prohi¬ 
bition in your call. I’ve got a good husband. He 
works for the railroad and he gets good wages there. 
I have three little children to feed and take care of. 
My husband is paid every other week and, Governor, 
when he starts home he comes by an open saloon and 
stops there, and when he gets home many times he’s 
got nothing left, and, Governor, the children go with¬ 
out bread.” Then she lifted her hands above her 
forehead and said: “Oh, Governor, won’t you take 
this temptation away from my husband so that he 
can come home and look after the children without 
spending his money for liquor? Governor, please, for 
the sake of the good God, whom we both serve, put 
prohibition into your call.” Then she turned, with 
the tears streaming down her cheeks, and went out. 
The Governor’s eyes, too, were full. 

That night when I reached the Mansion, I told my 
wife, who had always been a strong prohibitionist and 
was taking the liveliest interest in the hearings that 
were being had—I told her of the interview with the 
poor woman from South Atlanta, and when I was 
through I said: “What would you do, my dear?” and 
then, with some tears in her voice and eyes, she re¬ 
plied: “My husband, I’d put prohibition in the call if 
it beat me for Governor a hundred times over.” 

And I put it in. 

I issued the proclamation on September 28, 1915, 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 383 

calling the Legislature together and enumerating the 
subjects-matter for consideration and fixed the date for 
the 3rd day of November following. 

Of course the meeting of the Legislature was a ne¬ 
cessity. Under our Constitution no money can he paid 
from the treasury without an appropriation made by 
law. The adjournment of the Legislature had left 
the Governor with no means to pay any of the officers 
—the Judges, the Solicitors-General, the executive of¬ 
ficers, including the Governor, Secrtary of State, Comp¬ 
troller-General, Treasurer, and in short, all officers 
that were paid from the Treasury. 

I included in the call, therefore, the appropriations 
required to run the government, the question of pro¬ 
hibition, the disposition of the Western & Atlantic 
Railroad, which was a live question at the time. I put 
in two or three other less important matters that would 
not require extended consideration, but could be im¬ 
mediately attended to. 

During the hearings Colonel Felder and his asso¬ 
ciates from the city of Atlanta appeared before me 
only for a short time to urge the prohibition call. 
These gentlemen took it for granted, of course, that 
I would not seek to defeat the revolution inaugurated 
by the members of the House, but would give the Leg¬ 
islature a fair chance to enact the measures necessary 
to carry out the purpose of the Act of 1907. 

In my message to the Legislature when the body 
met in special session I stressed several deficiency ap¬ 
propriations, notably the printing fund and the appro¬ 
priation for the Department of Public Buildings and 
the Military Department. 

It may be stated here that when we moved into the 
Mansion we found it almost totally unfit for habita¬ 
tion. Governor Slaton had not lived in the Mansion, 
as he owned two fine residences within and near the 
(Continued on page 386) 





MRS. HATTIE G. HARRIS , 

Second wife of Governor Harris. Daughter of Dr. and Mrs. 
A. Jobe, of Elizabethton, Tennessee. 





AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


385 


(Newspaper clipping) 

GOVERNOR’S WIFE WHO MADE GEORGIA DRY BUT 
COST HUSBAND HIS OFFICE 
HARRIS TOOK WIFE’S ADVICE, LOST OFFICE 


Georgia Governor Gave State Prohibition Law at Cost 
of Renomination 


(Special to The Post-Dispatch.) 

SAVANNAH. GA„ Sept. 16 —Mrs. Nat. E. Harris gave to 
Georgia a drastic prohibition law, but thereby lost to her hus¬ 
band a renomination—equivalent to re-election—for Governor in 
the primaries this week. 

In a recent campaign address Governor Harris said: “You 
may thank the little lady who presides over my home for your 
prohibition law. When I was besieged to put the prohibition 
issue in the call for an extra session of the Legislature, and 
threatened alternately if I did and if I did not, I submitted the 
whole question to my wife one night as we sat around the fire¬ 
side. ‘Put it in,’ she decided, ‘if it beats you for re-election. 
I would rather have you beaten than to prevent Georgia from 
having prohibition.’ And so I put it in.” 

The Legislature then as now was predominantly prohibition, 
and the new law was forced through, but the opposition never 
quit. 

Mrs. Harris, feeling serenely conscious of a duty well done, 
watched her husband put up the fight of his life to obtain a 
second term, such as has been accorded to every Governor of 
Georgia since the Civil War, and saw him go down to defeat. 
The Governor realized the possibility of defeat when he fol¬ 
lowed his wife’s advice in favor of prohibition. 




386 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


city and used the Mansion only for receptions, gath¬ 
erings, consultations, etc. 

When he went to his summer residence just be¬ 
yond the city line and surrounded himself with the 
military, the public had practically free access to the 
Mansion. The consequence was that nearly every¬ 
thing was in confusion. The Mansion had deterio¬ 
rated greatly in recent years anyhow. The plaster¬ 
ing had fallen in one of the living rooms. This hap¬ 
pened at night and the loosened plaster from the ceil¬ 
ing fell on Governor Brown, who was sleeping in the 
bed. The escape from injury was almost miraculous, 
for the plastering was old-fashioned and very heavy, 
and the ceiling in the room was very high. 

An appropriation for repairs here was almost a 
necessity. I may say, I hope, without being misunder¬ 
stood, that when complaint was made of the condition 
of the Mansion some good people who were not very 
much attached to the inhabitants of my city trying to 
take the capitol away from Atlanta, remarked that 
“the Mansion was good enough for Macon folks 
anyhow.” 

In referring to the support of the charitable and 
educational institutions of the State I used these words: 

“I confidently hope that a law-making body like 
yours, which was willing to precipitate a revolution in 
parliamentary procedure in order to secure the op¬ 
portunity to further protect those unfortunates whose 
wills are not strong enough to resist the temptation to 
the excessive use of alcoholic stimulants, will certainly 
not diminish the amount of financial support heretofore 
given to institutions established on the one hand for 
the care of those who are already victims of such 
misfortune, and on the other hand for directing, mold¬ 
ing and strengthening the characters and habits of the 
boys and girls who must be exposed to those evils 
in the future.” 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


387 


OFFICE ORGANIZATION, ETC. 

When I entered on the duties of the Governor’s 
office I appointed the following gentlemen for my office 
force: 

F. R. Jones, who had been manager for me, I made 
Private Secretary. 

Raymond Stapleton, of Elbert, Executive Secretary. 
Eb. T. Williams, of Atlanta, Voucher and File Clerk. 
I retained one man from Governor Slaton’s force, 
to-wit: Claud West, Assistant to the Voucher and 
File Clerk. 

I appointed the following Military Staff: 

Asa G. Candler, Sr., Chief of Staff, Atlanta. 
Frederick Reese Jones, Atlanta. 

Robert J. Travis, Savannah. 

George M. Hope, Atlanta. 

John C. Woodward, College Park. 

John D. Walker, Sparta. 

Charles P. Rowland, Savannah. 

Steadman V. Sanford, Athens. 

Ben J. Fowler, Macon. 

John W. Murrell, Atlanta. 

Clifford T. Williamson, Macon. 

Dennis Fleming, Albany. 

Josiah R. Nunnally, Monroe. 

William M. Camp, Atlanta. 

Robert E. L. Spence, Albany. 

Fred Morris, Marietta 
James A. Fort, Americus. 

Oscar Palmour, Atlanta. 

George T. Brown, Atlanta. 

Martin V. Calvin, Waycross. 

Isaac C. Wade, Cornelia. 

William S. Shepherd, Columbus. 

Thomas R. Gentry, Atlanta. 



GOVERNOR HARRIS AND HIS OFFICE FORCE 

From left to right: Governor Harris; F. R. Jones, Private Sec¬ 
retary; Raymond Stapleton, Executive Secretary; Eb. T. 
Williams, Voucher Clerk. 




AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


389 


St. Elmo Massengale, Atlanta. 

Ozy R. Horton, Milledgeville. 

I continued J. Van Holt Nash as Adjutant-General 
and head of the Military Department. These were 
the ones in office on the first of January, 1917. 

This office force was strong and loyal, and enabled 
me to carry on the business of the office without seri¬ 
ous break at any time. The pay was not much over 
half what it is now, but the men who were selected to 
run the business of the office devoted themselves with 
apparently as much fidelity to the work as if they had 
been abundantly paid for it. 

A list of appointments that I made during my term 
of office are shown in appendix III. Among the others 
was a War Council selected and commissioned under 
instructions from the Secretary of War with the au¬ 
thority to adivse the Governor and aid in making the 
preparations for the support and encouragement of 
our troops. This council consisted of the following 
persons, the Governor being Chairman: 

The Adjutant General, J. Van Holt Nash. 

Brig. Gen. W. A. Harris. 

Brig. Gen. W. G. Obear. 

Judge Jno. S. Candler. 

Judge Jno. C. Hart. 

Lieut. Col. Frederick R. Jones. 

J. K. Orr, Esq. 

From 1st Cong. Dist.: Col. A. R. Lawton, Sa¬ 
vannah. 

From 2nd Cong. Dist.: Lt. Col. R. E. L. Spence, 
Albany. 

From 3rd Cong. Dist.: Lt. Col. Zach Arnold, Ft. 
Gaines. 

From 4th Cong. Dist.: Judge W. A. Little, Co¬ 
lumbus. 


390 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


From 5th Cong. Dist.: Lieut. Col. Claude C. Smith, 
Atlanta. 

From 6th Cong. Dist.: Lt. Col. Baxter Jones, 
Macon. 

From 7th Cong. Dist.: Judge Jno. W. Maddox, 
Rome. 

From 8th Cong. Dist.: Lt.. Col. S. V. Sanford, 
Athens. 

From 9th Cong. Dist.: Lt. Col. I. C. Wade, Cor¬ 
nelia. 

From 10th Cong. Dist.: Lt. Col. Jno. D. Walker, 
Sparta. 

From nth Cong. Dist: Commander Frank D. 
Aiken, Brunswick. 

From 12th Cong. Dist.: Judge C. W. Griffin, East¬ 
man. 

The following were requested to act as Associate 
Members: 

Brig. Gen. E. D. Huguenin, Macon. 

Brig. Gen. Clifford L. Anderson, Atlanta. 

Brig. Gen. Peter W. Meldrim, Savannah. 

Brig. Gen. M. J. Daniel, Griffin. 

This council was commended in my message to the 
Legislature as a very valuable part of the adminis¬ 
tration under the changed conditions brought about 
by the declaration of war. 

One of the first acts of my successor was to abolish 
this council and get legislative authority for the for¬ 
mation of a new one. In the new one was included 
a number of women, which, of course, was a decided 
advance. 

The council, which I had appointed, contained some 
men of splendid intellect, with experience and judg¬ 
ment, and their advice to me during the trying times 
preceding my retirement was of incalculable advan¬ 
tage. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


391 


The man who attempts to handle a new situation 
like the one which came on me, without advice and 
consultation with others, writes himself down as an 
obstinate fool for the time being. If he succeeds he 
becomes famous for his firmness and self-reliance. I 
did not take the risk. 

Every appointment carries, ordinarily, with it the 
making of more enemies than friends. Governor 
Candler used to say that for every important office 
there would be at least one hundred applicants. Only 
one could be appointed, and the Governor would 

thereby create “ninety-nine enemies and one d-d 

ingrate.” This was his estimate of the value of the 
appointing power. 

I started out, I really believe, with a larger degree 
of popularity than is usual for a newly elected Gov¬ 
ernor. In fact one of the Representatives during the 
first session of the Legislature introduced a resolution, 
which was unanimously adopted, setting out this fact 
in excedingly flattering terms. Alas! it did not last. 

I may say here, however, that I seemed to retain 
the good will of all the Legislature even to the end, 
except a few who belonged to the thirty-five filibusters, 
whose work had forced the adjournment. 

PROHIBITION LEGISLATION AT THE 
FIRST CALLED SESSION 

The Legislature met at the time fixed in the call 
and got down to work immediately. There were only 
five members absent from the House and only one 
from the Senate. 

The appropriation bill, which was required under 
the Constitution to start in the House, was introduced 
by Mr. Fullbright, Chairman of the Appropriation 
Committee, on the first day of the session. The bill 

: • :ix ,#f .t,’ 






















AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


393 


providing for the lease of the Western & Atlantic 
Railroad was also introduced on the first day. 

The prohibition legislation started with the Sen¬ 
ate, I suppose from a tacit understanding that .inas¬ 
much as the House must first consider the appropria¬ 
tion bill and pass the same, the Senate decided to take 
up the prohibition bill as the first large part of its 
work. 

T. he Senate finally passed the prohibition measures 
on November 8th. 

The House had evidently been preparing for this 
bill, for it had steadily voted down, almost every day 
after the appropriation bill was reported, Mr. Full- 
bright’s motion to take it up for consideration. 

Accordingly a filibuster began in the House on the 
same day that the Senate passed the prohibition bill. 
This filibuster first had to do with the report of the 
Rules Committee. It continued until the 12th, when 
the Senate ball was taken up by an overwhelming ma¬ 
jority and passed, the vote being 142 ayes and 22 
nays. The House had amended the bill and these 
were concurred in on November 15th by the Senate, 
which passed the bill. This bill had been prepared 
under the supervision of Col. T. B. Felder, who called 
in, if I am not mistaken, a distinguished ex-Judge of 
Alabama to assist him. It was introduced by Senators 
Stovall and Harbin as a substitute to a bill prepared 
by Senators Eakes and Walker. It passed the Sen¬ 
ate with only one opposing vote—Roscoe Pickett, who 
was the lone Republican in the Senate. 

The special session of the Legislature ended on 
November 25th, having continued for 23 days. It 
handled all the legislation submitted to it by the Gov¬ 
ernor, putting over one matter to the next session, 
namely, the State Warehouse System, with a commit¬ 
tee appointed to prepare legislation for the same. 


394 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


Inasmuch as I have started out on the prohibition 
fight during my term I might as well conclude the sub¬ 
ject here. 

The Act that was passed was very sweeping in its 
effects, extending to almost every phase of the sale 
and manufacture of intoxicating beverages. It closed 
the near-beer saloons, abolished the locker clubs, 
which had become an insufferable nuisance to the citi¬ 
zens of the State. It stopped the general shipment of liq¬ 
uors into the State, adopting the “Webb-Kenyon Act,” 
and generally was hailed as a great reform in the 
Temperance crusade. 

But after all, it contained one provision that dis¬ 
counted all the work that was done to bring it about- 
It had in it what was known as the “Two-Quart Law,” 
found in the 16th section of the Act, which allowed to 
be transported into Georgia to anyone ordering the 
same, one gallon of wine or six gallons of beer, or two 
quarts of spirituous liquors, per month. 

Under this provision any citizen within any thirty 
days could order through the express company or any 
common carrier a gallon of wine or six gallons of beer, 
or two quarts of whiskey, brandy or other intoxicat¬ 
ing beverage. He could not order all, but only one 
of the articles mentioned. 

This exception in the law started a business through 
the carriers, the extent of which can scarcely be con¬ 
ceived, and certainly could never have been anticipated. 
It seemed to be an invitation to every family in the 
State, which could raise the money, to order liquors for 
the family’s use. The colored people throughout the 
country, finding such easy access to the favorite drink, 
began to lay in supplies to satisfy their thirst. It was 
found that very little work could be secured in the lat¬ 
ter* part of the week from the colored laborers as well 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


395 


as from the whites addicted to the use of liquor. Farm 
hands, especially the colored laborers, generally, be¬ 
gan to work in the fore part of the week, and hav¬ 
ing ordered in a supply of liquor, would stop after the 
middle of the week was passed and go home and drink 
it, or join in a carousal at favorite gathering places 
throughout the country. The consequence was that a 
great cry went up condemning this portion of the law. 

While the evil spread, yet the next Legislature pro¬ 
vided no relief inasmuch as the evil had not reached its 
apex, nor demonstrated its far-reaching effects, es¬ 
pecially on the industrial part of the State. 

It was believed that the passage of what was known 
as the “Reed Amendment,” by Congress, prohibiting 
the- shipment of liquors into dry states, would put an 
end to the business that had grown up under the Act 
of 1915. The Legislature at the session of 1916, rely¬ 
ing upon the Federal Legislation, failed to deal with 
the trouble under our own Act. 

The business of shipping into Georgia under the 
“Two Quart Law” had assumed such mammoth pro¬ 
portions that the liquor dealers in states whose laws 
did not forbid such proceeding had piled up at Knox¬ 
ville, Chattanooga and Jacksonville vast quantities of 
intoxicating beverages for sale) in our State. The 
handling of these great stocks required the aid of the 
banks of adjacent States. They made advances to the 
owners in order to enable them to meet the demands 
for liquors in Georgia. The Reed Amendment would 
have gone into operation, as I recollect, on January 
1, 1917, and its passage, of course, created a panic not 
only among the liquor sellers, but also among the 
banks, which had advanced heavily on these supplies. 

It was a little remarkable that when the Reed Amend¬ 
ment was under consideration, coming as it did from 


396 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


an avowed anti-prohibitionist, some of the temperance 
organizations, notably, the Anti-Saloon League, join¬ 
ed the opposition before Congress, and sought to pre¬ 
vent the enactment. I used the expression in one of the 
official documents which I issued that this action re¬ 
minded me of the action of the Jews at the coming 
of the Messiah; they did not recognize their own 
savior. 

But if these persons did not recognize the coming 
benefits of the Act it is certain that the liquor people 
recognized the damage which it would work on their 
business. Petitions, therefore, were sent in to the 
National Government, notably to the United States 
Treasurer, asking for relief. These petitions were 
possibly suggested, at least they were accompanied by 
appeals from the banks themselves, which had advanced 
their money on the faith of the enactment of Geor¬ 
gia, that allowed them to sell the goods in that State. 
I do not know all that was done to bring about the re¬ 
sult the liquor people desired, but I do know that the 
President, by proclamation, suspended the action of 
this Federal Law from January ist to July ist, of 
I 9 I 7- 

Meantime the biennial election for Governor in 
Georgia came on and my friends insisted that I should 
run for the position a second time. This course was 
demanded by them because of the fear that unless a 
prohibition Governor was in office the Prohibition Act 
would be modified or repealed. 

Greatly against my will I finally consented to make 
the race. 

The four gentlemen who aided in bringing about 
the revolution in the Legislature, headed by Colonel 
Felder, took up the campaign through Georgia for 
my re-election. Col. Felder had gone through the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


397 


State, spoken on a large number of platforms, stirred 
up the people with eloquent and almost irresistible ap¬ 
peals, so that he was certain my re-election would not 
fail. I think his zealous prosecution of the campaign 
might have made the result doubtful but for the fact 
that in the midst of the contest, while working and talk¬ 
ing for me, and seeking to strengthen the prohibition 
cause in various places throughout the State, some man 
under the influence of liquor and dominated by a desire 
to serve the unseen government in operation at that 
time, suddenly, unexpectedly attempted at the Kimball 
House to assassinate Colonel Felder, stabbing him to 
the vitals and totally disabling him for many months. 
He was carried to the hospital where only the closest 
nursing and the most careful attention prevented him 
from crossing over the Great Divide. The benefit of 
his assistance in the campaign was lost and nothing 
that I could do or any of my friends, could make up 
the loss. 

I w r as defeated—my opponent, Mr. Dorsey, re¬ 
ceiving 106,680 popular votes, while my vote was only 
70,998. Dr. Hardman, who insisted on running, and 
whose candidacy contributed largely to my defeat, re¬ 
ceived 26,693 votes. Mr. Dorsey’s majority over me, 
therefore, was 35,682. 

Colonel Joe Pottle, who also canvassed the State 
for the same position, received 7,148 popular votes. 

After the election was over, which occurred in Au¬ 
gust, I went to East Tennessee to recuperate, at what 
I then called the Governor’s summer mansion. While 
there a Democratic rally took place, having for its 
object the advancement of President Woodrow Wil¬ 
son’s candidacy for a second term. This rally occurred 
in Johnson City, and I w T as asked to be present and 
speak on the occasion. Senator McKellar, of Ten¬ 
nessee, Governor Rye, and the Democratic candidate 


398 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


for presidential elector, Mr. Ben Taylor, were all 
present and occupied places on the stand. It is re¬ 
markable that Mr. Taylor, in behalf of the Demo¬ 
crats, was opposing his father, Governor Alfred 
Taylor, who was the Republican candidate for elector. 
When the addresses were over I took the train for 
Georgia, and on my way down sat for a time by the 
side of Senator McKellar. Another gentleman sat 
in front of us on the next seat. While I was telling 
Senator McKellar of my defeat in Georgia he intro¬ 
duced me to the gentleman sitting in front of us, who 
was a resident of Memphis, the home of Senator Mc¬ 
Kellar, and whose name was Glass. The Senator added 
to his introduction that Mr. Glass was the Secretary 
and Treasurer of the Liquor Dealers Association of 
the South. After we had talked awhile Mr. Glass 
leaned over and said to me: 

“Governor Harris, you ought not to be surprised 
that you were beaten for Governor.” When I asked 
him why, he replied: “Every man in high office would 
like to take the side of temperance. He thinks that’s 
the better side; but, Governor, if we were to allow this 
to be done by men in office my people would not be 
able at the end of ten years to sell a gallon of liquor 
in the United States.” 

I said: “Do you mean, Mr. Glass, that your people 
took a hand in the election?” I certainly do,” he re¬ 
plied. I said to him: “What did you do?” 

He answered: “We sent money to Georgia.” 

I said: “Will you tell me how much?” 

He replied: “No, Governor, I could not do that, as 
it would not be just to my people, but it was a con¬ 
siderable amount.” 

I replied: “When did you send it?” 

He answered: “We sent most of it about ten or 
twelve days before the election.” 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


399 


I said: “Why did you not send it sooner?” 

And then, with a smile, he said: “Why, Governor,* 
we did not know which way the cat would jump.” 

I had heard that a large check had been received by 
some of the Atlanta banks to be used for my defeat, 
but I had paid no attention to it. The words of Mr. 
Glass gave me a stitch in the side. 

I did not and do not believe that my distinguished 
opponent, Governor Dorsey, knew anything of this. 
I thought, and still think, that the Frank case con¬ 
trolled and compelled his election. I may say here 
that in all his four year’s service he treated me with 
great courtesy and showed, apparently, an unvarying 
regard for my views on public questions. He told me 
once, when I was suggesting the re-appointment of a 
man who had held a position under me, that my ap¬ 
pointments, instead of being a disadvantage, were 
always a recommendation to him when the question of 
re-appointment came up. 

Some time after the conversation with Senator Mc- 
Kellar and Mr. Glass I met Congressman Randall 
Walker, of the nth District, and he repeated to me 
a circumstance which seemed to corroborate the state¬ 
ment made by Mr. Glass. He said that while the in¬ 
vestigation to ascertain the loyalty of the beer and 
liquor interests, during the World War, was going 
on at Washington a gentleman was put on the stand. 
He was either an agent, detective, or occupied some 
other position in the liquor association. Mr. Webb, 
who was then Chairman of the Judiciary Committee 
of Congress, and who was afterwards made Federal 
Judge in North Carolina, and who as Chairman had 
been advocating the 18th Amendment, asked the wit¬ 
ness : 

“Did you send any money to the 6th District of 
North Carolina in the campaign of 1916?” 


400 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


He answered: “No, Sir, we sent no money that year 
to either North Carolina or South Carolina, but we 
did send five hundred thousand dollars to Georgia, 
and we got that old man that year.” 

At the time Mr. Glass told me of the activities of 
the Liquor Dealers Association, he possibly forgot 
that I still had nine months in the Governor’s office. 

When, therefore, the President had suspended the 
action of the Reed Amendment giving the liquor 
interests free reign under the quart laws, I called a 
special session of the Legislature, the second session 
that I had called in my term of two years. 

This time I wrote the bill with my own hand that 
I desired the Legislature to pass. 

I called a caucus to meet before the session of the 
Legislature began and I read the bill to them, explain¬ 
ing it in detail and telling them of the necessity for its 
passage. 

It was afterwards amended in some regards. A 
portion of the amendments made it even more drastic 
and a portion made it less effective, but taking it all 
in all it was the most drastic legislation that had ever 
been passed in the American Union, against the use 
of intoxicating liquors. It still stands unamended on 
our Statute books. 

This was my answer to the Liquor Dealers Asso¬ 
ciation. 

But I did not stop here. I wrote a message setting 
out the value of prohibition in our State. I filed with 
it reports from the Solicitors-General and the Judges 
of the State and put the question of worth and effec¬ 
tiveness beyond all future cavil. 

I sent five hundred copies of this message to the 
Congress of the United States in aid of the canvass 
for the 18th Amendment. I did more. When my 
term closed I went to Washington City to aid the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


401 


effort to pass the Amendment. I spoke, argued and 
begged the members of the lower House to follow 
the Senate in the passage of that great measure. 

I found that the action of the Georgia Legislature 
had aroused much interest and given much encourage¬ 
ment to the advocates of prohibition throughout the 
Union. 

The prohibitionists in Massachusetts sent the fol¬ 
lowing song, and the memory of it ought to put us on 
our mettle. We had started on the campaign; we were 
pioneers. This old Empire State marched in the front 
of the Temperance Armies, and the Northern States 
and the Western States followed the Southern States 
as they were dropping into line: 

“Bring the good old bugle boys! We’ll have a grand new song, 
Sing it as we mean to sing it, eighty million strong. 

Sing it as we love to sing it while they march along, 

Rum shops are marching out of Georgia. 

Hurrah! hurrah! they lead the jubilee 
Hurrah! hurrah! our land will soon be free 
Hear the Dixie Chorus from Atlanta to the Sea, 

While the rum shops are marching out of Georgia.” 

When Colonel Felder recovered from the attempted 
assassination he went to Washington himself giving 
all his time and talents to pushing through to its final 
passage the Eighteenth Amendment. 

The amendment was re-cast at the instance of Sen¬ 
ator Shepherd, of Texas, who was in charge of it from 
the South, and Colonel Felder aided with his sugges¬ 
tions not only in explaining and interpreting the 
amendment, but in picturing the necessity for its pas¬ 
sage if the Nation was to be saved from the curse pf 
intemperance. I joined him in a part of this and a 
banquet was given to me at the New Willard, to which 


402 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


were invited the prominent prohibitionists from all the 
States. 

Mr. Harding, who was then Senator and afterwards 
became President, attended the banquet and made an 
address. I had preceded my talk with an account of 
my defeat, attributing it, according to the claim of the 
liquor dealers, in large measure to the work which 
their association had done against me in Georgia. 

When Mr. Harding came to speak, among other 
things, he used the following words, speaking directly 
to me: 

“Governor Harris, you are not the only man who 
has suffered from prohibition. When the question 
was presented to the State of Ohio I owned a large 
block of stock in the breweries. It became my duty, 
therefore, to decide between my own interests and 
my obligaion to the people of my state. I voted for 
prohibition, and Governor, I lost my stock in the brew'- 
eries.” 

Of course we applauded him, for I knew it did re¬ 
quire a strong devotion to the side of morality and the 
uplift of the people to sacrifice his personal interest 
in an election of this sort. 

I was never able to remind him of the kind words 
he spoke to me at that time and now, since his death, 
I never can. 

The Eighteenth Amendment was finally passed, as 
the country knows today, and this was my final answer 
to the gigantic liquor trust, which, like a great octo¬ 
pus, had spread its tentacles through every neighbor¬ 
hood and every community, leaving its slime in every 
municipality and every State and territory in the 
Union. 

Its foul breath was mining homes, tainting govern¬ 
ments and infecting morality throughout the Nation. 
Its creed was gain and its practice selfishness. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


403 


Its agent, Mr. Glass, who thought he was doing his 
duty to his associates, forgot that a defeated politician 
may sometimes strike back at the people who turned 
him out of office. 

While the consciousness that I had something to 
do with the passage of the Eightenth Amendment may 
now and then relieve the disappointment of the terrible 
defeat that I suffered, yet, still I am obliged to say that 
the punishment was exceedingly severe. I soon found 
out that a defeated Governor was the deadest object 
that could be found outside of slaughter houses or un¬ 
dertaking establishments in all the American Union. 

It became a common happening every day to pass 
someone on the street who would turn around and 
look at me, saying to a by-stander: “There’s the old 
cuss that took away our liquor.” I met on the street 
some time after the passage of the Act the poor woman 
that had called on me at the Executive Office and 
begged me to include prohibition in the legislative 
program. I asked her how matters were at home. 
When she recognized me she clapped her hands to¬ 
gether and said: “Oh, Governor, it’s a paradise at 
home now. My husband brings his wages on every 
pay day and pours them into my lap—and, Governor, 
the children have plenty of bread.” So we get it 
both ways, if we try to do our duty. 

I was tempted at times to leave the State. I could 
have gone to Florida or to East Tennessee where I 
was born. My treatment was different in both these 
states from that which I had experienced in Georgia. 
It would have been easy for me to resume the domicile 
of nativity in one case, or make new friends among the 
visitors from every state. 

But my duty to the Georgia Tech still held me and 
I felt that until my presence in the Board became en- 


404 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


tirely useless I had a very strong desire to occupy my 
position until I died. I am now, while writing these 
reminiscences, in my seventy-eighth year, and the time 
of departure cannot he very far off. 

VISITS TO THE PRESIDENTS 

In the preceding chapter I have referred to the ban¬ 
quet at the New Willard in Washington given to me 
at which President Harding, who was then Senator 
from Ohio, was present. 

After he was elected President, I went to the White 
House to call on him in company with my nephew, 
Samuel Luttrell, Jr., an extensive automobile dealer 
in the City of Washington. Like myself, he was anx¬ 
ious to see the President. I met Mr. Christian, the 
Secretary, gave him my card and told him that I want¬ 
ed to pay my respects to the President and thank him 
for some words that he said in my behalf on a recent 
occasion in Washington. 

Mr. Christian declined to give me an opportunity 
to see him, so, that I repeat, I was never able to thank 
him before his death. 

I considered him one of the sanest, if not the wisest, 
of all our Presidents. The election to the high office 
of Chief Magistrate did not seem to change his na¬ 
ture and his thoughts turned in the right direction. 
His allegiance to the Eightenth Amendment and the 
Act passed to enforce it, never wavered as far as I 
know or have been informed. 

My nephew, Mr. Luttrell, said as we left the White 
House that the Private Secretary had grown faster 
in his head piece than any one in the office that he had 
ever seen, and he had been visiting the Presidents for 
the last thirty years. He thought Mr. Christian had 
reached higher in the shortest time of any man he had 
ever known. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


405 


I had never before been refused an opportunity to 
speak to the President of my country. 

I met Mr. Cleveland and shook his hand and went 
away with the feeling that of all the gruff men in the 
world he went further than any, and yet I admired 
him and stood by him when he was assailed during all 
the time he occupied the President’s chair. 

In one of the previous chapters I have referred to 
an incident that occurred in my race for the State Sen¬ 
ate, when the Populist leaders challenged me to state 
what I thought of President Cleveland and I told the 
audience my convictions. 

I met President McKinley both in Washington 
and in Thomasville where he went for a visit in the 
winter time, with the Senator, Mr. Hanna, from Ohio, 
who claimed all the credit for his election. Mr. Mc¬ 
Kinley was a genial, clever, whole-souled man, an 
able speaker, and one who had the distinction of unit¬ 
ing the hitherto discordant sections of the Nation by 
his charity and nobility of character. He had said 
on one occasion in Atlanta, when speaking to the Leg¬ 
islature, that the time had come for the United States 
to look after the graves of the Confederate soldiers. 
When he said this he brought us all together, and I 
used to suggest that his words showed anyhow that 
he was not afraid of a dead Confederate. 

I met President Roosevelt under peculiar circum¬ 
stances. While traveling through the South he visited 
Atlanta and came to the Georgia Tech, where he made 
a speech to the student body. He was introduced by 
Dr. Matheson, who at my request told the students 
that he was at that time “the foremost man of all the 
world.” He had just made peace between Russia and 
Japan. He spoke to the students, about five hundred 
in number, from the front steps, and after he had gone 


406 


AUTOBIOGRAFHY 


on for something like twenty minutes he suddenly stop¬ 
ped and said: 

“Boys, I want to shake hands with you. Come up 
and give me your hands, all of you.” And he went 
down on the steps and shook hands with the whole 
student body. When we went back into the Presi¬ 
dent’s room he was showing a good deal of pleasurable 
excitement and said to me: 

“How did you like that, Colonel Harris; how did 
that strike you?” 

I replied at once: “Why, Mr. President, that was 
a splendid thing you did. Those boys will tell their 
grandchildren about it.” 

As I said this he shook my hand and said: “Do you 
think so? I am glad you think so.” 

After we had talked a little and he got up to leave 
he took my hand in parting and said: “Colonel Har¬ 
ris, come and see me” (repeating). 

I replied: “Oh, Mr. President, you woudn’t know' 
me from a side of sole leather if I were to come to 
the White House to see you.” 

Then he replied: “You try me, you try me.” And 
with that he wrung my hand and left. 

About six months afterwards, on the morning that 
the news was sent out to the world telling of San 
Francisco’s destruction by the earthquake, I was in 
Washington, and the determination came over me to 
go to the White House and see if the President would 
really recognize me. 

I went up to the mansion without anyone to accom¬ 
pany me or introduce me, and found on arriving that 
Mr. Loeb, the Private Secretary, was in New York 
that morning, and his place was being filled by Major 
Barnes, the former Private Secretary. When I hand¬ 
ed him my card I saw him smile as he looked at it, for 
I had written underneath the name the words, “No 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


407 


business—only to pay respects to the Chief Magis¬ 
trate.” 

He passed by me and went through a door that 
opened into the office, closing it behind him. He had 
hardly had time to present the card when the door 
flew open and Mr. Roosevelt came forward with both 
hands extended towards me as he said: “Come and see 
me at twelve o’clock,” repeating it, “come and see me 
at twelve o’clock.” Nothing further was said and he 
went back into the room and the door was shut. It 
was then about ten o’clock, I think. 

I came back at twelve o’clock, but the door did not 
open and after waiting fifteen minutes I arose to leave 
with the statement: “Well, I’ll go. A Southern man 
never waits on anybody, even the President.” As I 
turned, however, the same door through which the 
Secretary had gone, was opened and Mr. Roosevelt 
came out taking me by the hand, saying to me: “Come 
in and sit down. I want to talk to you.” Then he 
added: “You have a great school down there in At¬ 
lanta. Did you see that I noticed it in my message?” 

I had not in fact seen it, but I was unwilling to tell 
him so, and instead I answered: “Why, Mr. Presi¬ 
dent, don’t you know that I am here to thank you for 
it?” 

Then we talked over Georgia matters and before 
I left I said something like this to him: “Mr. Presi¬ 
dent, when a man first starts out in life with ambition 
to succeed and make a name for himself he is almost 
certain to adopt the views of his father. These nat¬ 
urally have most weight with him, but after he has 
reached the meridian and begins to look back on his 
life, the views of his mother become of more impor¬ 
tance in his eyes and he naturally inquires what she 
thought and felt and did during his earlier days. 


408 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


“I have felt, Sir, that this will be the case with you. 
You are a half Southerner; your mother was born 
in Georgia, and you will give more thought to her 
views and her ideas and her people will become nearer 
to you and more important as you grow older.” 

He replied: “You may be right, Sir. I am a half 
Southerner, and I am not sorry that my mother was 
born in Georgia.” 

I went away from him with the belief in my heart 
that there were very few people in the world that 
were like him, and his greatness had grown on me be¬ 
yond all description. 

Going over to the Capitol afterwards, I met a large 
portion of the Georgia delegation in the lower House 
and I said to them: 

“Gentlemen, I want to make this remark to you: 
‘If President Roosevelt runs for President next time 
he will carry Georgia as sure as the sun rose this morn¬ 
ing. You couldn’t beat him in that State.’ ” 

And I might have added that you could not beat 
him in the American Nation. 

But he did not run. He stood out of the way and 
allowed Mr. Taft to get the nomination. And after 
that, when Mr. Taft was re-nominated, there was 
nothing left to him but to fight the leaders of his own 
party, and he went down in defeat. 

I think he was, by all odds, one of our greatest 
Presidents that had occupied the chair since Wash¬ 
ington’s time. Judging him by what we know of 
others, measuring him by other men of his time, he 
was really, taking him all in all, the wonder of his 
age. Misconstrued at times, yet when his motives 
were examined it was found that underneath there was 
the purpose to do right, to push forward the measures 
which he thought would work to the uplift of the race, 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


409 


and to the glory of the American Nation. I never 
voted for him, but I could appreciate him as a man of 
extraordinary courage and of unrivaled genius. 

The man who beat Mr. Roosevelt was a Democrat, 
belonging to my party—Woodrow Wilson. I did not 
support him in the preferential race in Georgia. I 
voted for Underwood in that contest. 

Mr. Roosevelt was succeeded by Mr. Taft after 
having served the largest part of McKinley’s term 
and one term of his own. When McKinley was mur¬ 
dered Mr. Roosevelt, as Vice-President, took his place 
and was then elected to a second term. Mr. Taft had 
been Chief Judge of the United States Court of Ap¬ 
peals of the Fourth Circuit. After his election, and 
before his nomination, he made a tour of some of the 
Southern States, coming to Georgia in the course of 
his travels. 

In Atlanta he visited the Georgia School of Tech¬ 
nology and addressed the student body in the chapel. 

I, as Chairman of the Board, introduced him and 
our speeches were published in pamphlet form accom- 
companied by our pictures. 

In my introduction I seemed to make a happy hit 
with him when I told him that I had served in the 
army of Northern Virginia during a large portion of 
the Civil War times; that the soldiers in the Confed¬ 
erate Army there used to talk about the troops from 
the various Northern States, and there was an almost 
unanimous desire expressed by these soldiers that if 
they should ever be so unfortunate as to fall into the 
hands of the enemy they might be captured by the 
Ohio troops. 

I said that, as the Democrats had to be beaten in 
the last race, I was glad to know that it was done by 
an Ohio man, for the same reason that the Southern 


410 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


boys wanted to be captured by Ohio men. They said 
the Ohioans would treat them right. 

Mr. Taft asked me to go with him to Athens where 
he was scheduled also to speak. I did so, and on the 
way had quite an extensive talk with him. I was sur¬ 
prised at the knowledge which he showed of the char¬ 
acter of the Southern people, and I asked him how 
this knowledge came about. He replied: “Do you for¬ 
get that two Southern States were in my district where 
I presided as Judge—Tennessee and Kentucky?” I 
told him I had forgotten it. 

He said to me that he was compelled in the can¬ 
vass, through which he had just passed successfully, 
to defend his decisions as a Judge and stated that he 
believed that it was the first time any man running 
for high office was compelled to do such a thing. 

I told him I had used many of his decisions in the 
courts on the trial of cases, and every once and awhile 
I forgot to give him his last title and called him “Judge 
Taft.” I apologized several times for my forget¬ 
fulness, and as this was happening frequently he turn¬ 
ed to his Secretary and said: “Draw an order au¬ 
thorizing Colonel Harris to call me ‘Judge.’ Now,” 
he continued, “you needn’t apologize any further.” 

A great many people came out at the various sta¬ 
tions along the road to see him and they all cheered 
him very enthusiastically, throwing up their hats in 
many cases and shouting, “Hurrah for President Taft.” 
We were sitting in the rear coach, which opened out 
upon the railroad from the rear portion. When the 
cheering continued and grew more enthusiastic even 
at the small stations he said to me: “It appears that 
I have a great number of friends here.” I answered: 
“Do you think they would vote for you if you were 
running for President?” Pie answered promptly: “No, 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


411 


not one of them. They are only cheering the office 
which I hold.” 

He told me an anecdote to illustrate one of the 
points he was making. 

He said there was a man living in a certain neigh¬ 
borhood who was very tight-fisted, hard-hearted, care¬ 
less and indifferent towards his neighbors during all 
his life. Finally he died and the church which he some¬ 
times attended decided to have a memorial meeting to 
eulogize his virtues, etc. One of his neighbors got up 
and used these words: 

“Well, brethren, John’s gone, and we hope he has 
gone where we all know he has not gone. We can 
say nothing more of him.” 

When we reached Athens I sat on the stage with 
him and while waiting for his introduction, I told him 
I had two boys to graduate in that Institution and 
each of them took the first honor in his class. When 
he came to speak he said that he was never a very good 
scholar at college, that he would have taken the first 
honor in his class if the count had begun at the foot. 
But he added: “Young gentlemen, I had a brother 
who made up for my defects. He graduated with the 
first honor of his class and he has always made money 
since he went into business, in fact he leads the fam- 
liy in this respect and can furnish enough money to 
take care of us all.” 

President Taft visited Georgia a second time while 
he was in office and I was appointed to introduce him 
again. This occurred at the Georgia State Fair in 
Macon. A vast platform had been erected in the cen¬ 
ter of the fair grounds and possibly as many as twenty- 
five thousand people attended to hear him speak. I 
did the best I could and in the course of my intro¬ 
ductory remarks I eulogized the State that he had now 
twice visited. Among other things stating that Ma- 


412 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


con was the center of the cotton belt of the State and 
that Georgia raised enough cotton to bring into her 
borders as much as two hundred millions of dollars 
per annum. I added: “Mr. President, this is better 
than all the gold mines in North America.” 

When he came to speak he said, referring to this 
statement: “I go the gentleman one better. If the cot¬ 
ton crop is as valuable as he claims it is, it is worth 
more than all the gold mines of North America, with 
South America thrown in for good measure.” 

Alas! alas! it can he well understood that when the 
boll weevil took away from the State nearly two hun¬ 
dred millions of dollars per annum her people must 
have suffered and felt that bankruptcy was close at 
hand in many cases. 

Mr. Taft has visited Atlanta many times since he 
left the Presidency. In fact Atlanta became greatly 
Interested in him and named for him its magnificent 
auditorium that seats comfortably eight thousand peo¬ 
ple—one of the largest halls in the South. 

As I sat beside him on the stage of this great audi¬ 
torium once I asked him if he remembered the order 
that he passed allowing me to call him “Judge” and 
also the anecdote that he told me when the dead man 
was eulogized. He replied: “Yes, perfectly.” 

I admired him greatly and I was anxious for Mr. 
Wilson to give him a place on the bench, for I knew 
he was a great judge. 

After Mr. Taft appointed Judge White Chief Jus¬ 
tice, although a Democrat and a Confederate soldier, 
the papers stated that when the Judge was informed 
of his appointment he burst into tears. 

I wrote to President Taft at once, thanking him 
for the appointment and telling him that Judge White 
was not the only Confederate soldier who burst into 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


413 


tears when this appointment became known. I re¬ 
ceived a very kind and courteous letter from him in 
reply. 

I was glad when President Harding gave the place 
to Mr. Taft. So I can still call him “Judge.” 

In the election for President that followed Judge 
Taft’s term, both he and President Roosevelt were 
candidates. The result was that Mr. Wilson, the 
Democratic candidate, went in with a considerable ma¬ 
jority over both his competitors. 

President Wilson took office on March 4th, 1913. 
I called on him several times during his first term, buf 
in every case went to the White House either with a 
Senator or with Hon. W. J. Harris, who was a mem¬ 
ber of the Trade Commission appointed by Mr. 
Wilson. After 1914, however, I had several inter¬ 
views with the President, without the intervention of 
anyone. I found out that the Governor of a State 
has the right of entry into any of the offices of the 
Federal Government at Washington, including that of 
the President. This, I suppose, is on the idea that 
the general government is made up of states, and hence 
the Governor of a State is looked on as pro tanto a 
member of the general government—one of the units, 
so to speak. 

A striking event occurred with me during Mr. Wil¬ 
son’s first term. I went to Washington for the pur¬ 
pose of presenting the. name of Judge Andrew J. Cobb, 
of our state, to fill a vacancy which had just occurred on 
the Supreme Bench. This was after my election as 
Governor, but I went to the Senate to ask Senator 
Hoke Smith to go with me, as his wife was a first cousin 
of Judge Cobb. I was allowed to come into the Sen¬ 
ate when I announced my rank. Senator Smith intro¬ 
duced me as the last old Confederate Governor in 




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AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


415 


office. When I sat down several Senators were brought 
up by Senator Smith to speak to me and I was in- 
formd by them that the Democrats of the Senate had 
agreed to suggest Senator Hoke Smith’s name for the 
vacant place. When I heard this I was greatly em¬ 
barrassed, as I had come all the way to Washington 
to urge the appointment of Judge Cobb. 

As we went up to the White House I told Senator 
Smith my trouble, whereupon he said to me that he 
had never made up his mind to accept the office and 
asked me to go forward and urge his kinsman for the 
place. 

I used these words in addressing the President: 

“Mr. President, you started your great career in 
Atlanta, Georgia. Do you not sometimes think of 
those earlier days, when you were practicing law in 
that city, and do not the faces of your associates re¬ 
turn to you at times, calling up many memories which 
you would not forget?” 

The President replied: “Oh, yes, I sometimes think 
of all these.” Then I told him that I came to see him 
in order to ask him to put upon the Bench the former 
partner of Joseph R. Lamar, a member of the United 
States Supreme Court, who had died some time before. 
“The man I present,” I said, “has aided Lamar in de¬ 
claring the law of our State through many long years. 
A man,” I repeated, “who descended from one of the 
noblest families in the South; whose father had been 
Speaker of the House and Secretary of the Treasury 
in the United States Government, etc.” Senator Smith 
stood by and heard what I said, giving his assent to 
it all. 

The President replied that he had not yet made up 
his mind about the matter, but would give my request 
due consideration. He added that the middle West 


416 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


was pressing for a representative on the Supreme 
Bench, and then made some other statement concerning 
the difficulties that he was laboring under in making a 
selection. 

As I went to leave him I said: “Mr. President, if 
you can’t find it possible to appoint Judge Cobb,, and 
the name of Senator Smith should be presented to you, 
his appointment would be pleasing to me and to all 
Georgians.” 

The Senator immediately demurred, and told the 
President that he needn’t feel any embarrassment on 
the subject so far as he, Senator Smith, was concerned. 

The President went to New York during the latter 
part of the week in which this occurred, and on the 
Tuesday following I saw from the papers that he had 
appointed Judge Brandies to the place. 

While the appointment surprised me, yet I did not 
feel disturbed for I knew something had happened to 
cause the President to come to a decision. 

I saw the President many times after this. Follow'- 
ing his election to a second term I called on him at the 
White House and congratulated him on his election. 
I said to him: “Mr. President, I think you owe your 
election to the vote and the influence of the women of 
the country. They voted for you largely because you 
had kept the Nation out of war.” 

He replied: “Yes, I suppose so.” And then he added 
these significant words: “But, Governor, the situation 
is not as safe as I could wish it to be.” 

I went away from him with these words in my mind 
and they had a momentous sound to me. In a very 
few days after I returned to Atlanta I saw in the papers 
that he had severed diplomatic relations with Germany, 
and on the 6th of April following, the Congress ac¬ 
cepted his recommendation and made the United 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


417 


States a party to the greatest war that ever occurred 
on the earth. 

Two or three months after this I met him again, 
and after I had talked with him awhile, I said: “Mr. 
President, please tell me why it was that you deter¬ 
mined so suddenly to declare war against Germany 
after I had seen you following your inauguration?” 

He said in reply: “Governor, I had debated the 
question for some time and finally I concluded that it 
was absolutely necessary if the United States did not 
wish to fight alone. I believed that war was coming 
involving our country, and I preferred not to fight 
alone, but to fight in company.” 

This was the substance of the momentous words 
which he used to me and which, after looking over the 
situation, I believe to be absolutely correct. If he had 
waited six months longer; perhaps even a less time; 
Germany would have been the master of the world. 

At the time he spoke France “was bled white” and 
could raise no more troops. Great Britain had her 
back to the wall in desperate straits. Italy had been 
overwhelmed and Russia was entirely out of the situ¬ 
ation. On every side and on every hand the German 
arms were triumphant. 

The threats which were uttered against the United 
States by the German authorities, including the Kaiser, 
made it absolutely certain that Germany would never 
have been satisfied until the United States had become 
an ally or subject province like the nations of Europe. 

It was once published throughout the country that 
the Kaiser had remarked that there were more than 
two millions of people in the United States who would 
do whatever he wished when he called on them. He 
evidently thought that these two million people would 
need help when he was through with his conquest of 
the rest of the world. 


418 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


Mr. Wilson sometimes indulged in severe criticism 
against any person he thought was not giving him the 
help that he had the right to expect. I saw in the 
papers that he had made a statement to someone that 
Georgia was not standing by him as it should, in the 
prosecution of the war. When I saw this statement 
I went to Washington at once and called on him. 

Mr. Tumulty was always very friendly in giving me 
access to the office. When I told him that I had come 
to see the President he said: “I think he is talking to 
one of his cabinet,” but I went on forward, saying to 
Mr. Tumulty that I had an important matter to pre¬ 
sent to him. As I went through the door Mr. Daniels, 
Secretary of the Navy, arose from his seat by the side 
of Mr. Wilson and said: “I suppose you want to 
see the President.” I replied: “Yes, Sir, that is what 
I came for,” and Mr. Daniels immediately left the 
room. Then I addressed the President in almost 
these words: 

“Mr. President, I saw what you said concerning the 
failure of Georgia to stand up to you as the state 
should and I am here to set you right about the mat¬ 
ter if I can.” 

Then I said, very earnestly: “Mr. President, Geor¬ 
gia is not against you, Sir; Georgia is on your side— 
she is with you heart and soul and will stand up to you, 
with both money and men whenever you call for her.” 

The President: replied: “Well^ it doesn’t appear so 
to me, judging by the way your Senators are treat¬ 
ing me.” 

Then I said, very earnestly: “Mr. President, Hoke 
Smith is not against you. Hoke Smith is a Democrat 
and he wants to stand by your administration and aid 
in making it a success.” 

Then he replied: “I wouldn’t judge it to be so, con- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


419 


sidering the way he turned down my appointment to 
the District Bench in Georgia recently.” (Referring to 
the rejection of Judge Whipple, who was nominated 
for that place.) 

I replied: “Mr. President, Senator Smith thinks 
you were wrong about that man—that he was not the 
man you thought he was.” 

When I said this the President turned towards me 
with two little red spots on his cheek and started to¬ 
wards me in a belligerent way and said: “Don’t you 
know that is a lie? Don’t you know that I know men, 
and when I make up my mind about a man it is al¬ 
most certain to be so?” He commenced coming to¬ 
wards me as he said this with Ips fist apparently doubled 
up as if he thought of striking me. I stood my ground, 
however, the thought going through my mind that 
while he represented the great Government of the 
United States, I represented Georgia the Empire State 
of the South and I said to myself, “I will not back 
a step.” When the President got near enough to strike 
if he had desired to do so, he opened his hands and 
put them on my shoulder and pulling me up to him 
said: “Come on, old Governor; come with me and 
let us have our picture taken together.” He took my 
arm and held me up as I went down the stairs to where 
the camera was and we had our picture taken. It is 
hanging on the wall at my summer home and my wife 
has called it, “A quarrel with the President recon¬ 
ciled.” 

It will be to me more than this in the future when 
I see his face as we stood together. All the past will 
come back. Plis greatness will loom before me—the 
one man who showed the power and strength of this 
mighty Republic and in war made it the unrivaled won¬ 
der of the world. 



“A QUARREL WITH THE PRESIDENT RECONCILED” 

This picture taken in front of the White House. Originally Governor 
Harris stood side by side with the President, but the Cabinet coming up, 
he gave way to them. 

From left to right: Josephus Daniels, Secretary of the Navy; the Presi¬ 
dent ; Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War ; Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of 
the Interior ; Dave F. Houston, Secretary of Agriculture ; Governor Harris. 









AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


421 


Washington gave it life and started it on its career. 
Woodrow Wilson gave it a position as a world power, 
exploiting its war-like spirit, until it towers on all the 
earth as the greatest nation in many respects that ever 
existed since the human race began. 

On one occasion I went with Dr. K. G. Matheson to 
see Mr. Wilson. Dr. Matheson had been at the head 
of the Georgia Tech for eighteen years and, being a 
Presbyterian, was anxious to meet Mr. Wilson and 
pay his respects to him. When I introduced him I 
said: “Mr. President, this is the head of the Georgia 
Tech, and I have no doubt but that you have often 
heard of him.” 

After the President had shaken hands, Dr. Mathe¬ 
son stated that I was the Chairman of the Board of 
Trustees of the Institution, whereupon the President 
said: “Oh, if you are Chairman of the Board you are 
jerking Dr. Matheson around and about whenever 
you please.” 

I replied: “Mr. President, I’ve heard of a case where 
the President of a great institution jerked the Board 
of Trustees around and made them do whatever he 
pleased.” 

The President did not show much pleasure or smile 
very sweetly when I said this, as it referred to some 
alleged differences between him and the Board of Trus¬ 
tees of Princeton. 

I might say here from my knowledge of the man, 
I am absolutely certain that no one on this earth ever 
jerked around or controlled Woodrow Wilson. He 
was in many respects the most unique character the 
world has ever produced, and his fame will grow 
greater as the ages pass by. 


422 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


MY SICKNESS IN THE GOVERNOR’S OFFICE 

My first serious trouble grew out of the work of a 
Macon dentist in killing the nerve of a wisdom tooth. 
Arsenic was used, and unfortunately the medicine fol¬ 
lowed down one of the glands, causing a terrible irri¬ 
tation and a swelling in the neck beneath the right ear. 

As the swelling persisted, I bought a, bottle of 
Sloan’s Liniment and determined to try to reduce it. 
The medicine was applied and in order to make cer¬ 
tain the result I directed my wife to use a hot electric 
iron, which was held against the swelling for some time, 
heating not only the medicine but the nerves and mus¬ 
cles adjacent. 

The result was disastrous to me and a terrible burn¬ 
ing took place. 

The treatment put me in bed for some days and 
the newspapers referred to the trouble, describing how 
and why it was brought on me. 

I was almost glad afterwards that the event had oc¬ 
curred, for it apparently created a great sympathy for 
me throughout the State. At least one hundred and 
fifty people wrote me suggesting remedies and advis¬ 
ing how to cure the burn. Some dear, good women 
wrote recipes for curing burns, saying that they were 
anxious to do something for their good old Governor 
in his trouble. The results were so severe that I was 
compelled to go to the hospital in Macon where I was 
treated for some ten days before I recovered. 

During the first part of 1916 there was an epi¬ 
demic of tonsilitis in Atlanta and, as I became one of 
the victims, I went one day to a prominent physician 
to have my throat treated. The doctor saw the swell¬ 
ing on the side of my neck and after he was through 
he said: “Governor, I know a medicine that will take 
that swelling from your neck if you want to try it.” 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


423 


When I expressed a willingness he wrote down a state¬ 
ment giving the name of the medicine. It was called 
Syrup of Hydriodic Acid, and the doctor accompanied 
his recommendation by the statement that it was made 
up by a prescription given out by Dr. Gil Wiley, 
of New York. As my wife had been in Dr. Wiley’s 
Clinic in New York she thought there was no physi¬ 
cian on earth that was equal to him, and when I came 
home and consulted her about the medicine, telling her 
that it was Dr. Gil Wiley’s prescription, she advised 
me to get it at once. I did so. 

I followed the directions on the bottle, taking the 
dose before each meal. To make certain that I wouldn’t 
forget it a young lady who was staying with my wife at 
the time and painting some portraits for us, a Miss 
Fletcher, cut a small piece of pasteboard and printed 
on it “Take your Medicine,” which was set in front* 
of my plate at the table. 

I took the medicine for six weeks without missing 
a meal, at the end of which time the swelling had en¬ 
tirely disappeared. Then I decided to stop it, but no¬ 
ticing a little tenderness in the place where the swelling 
had been, I said, “perhaps I had better finish the cure 
and make it absolutely certain,” and started on the 
medicine again. At the end of ten days I had com¬ 
pletely poisoned myself and the most terrible symp- 
tons supervened. 

Long afterwards I ascertained that while this result 
was possible, yet it did not necessarily follow the use 
of the medicine, which was a preparation of iodine. 
The terrible results were possible but not probable. 
My system had become entirely impregnated with the 
medicine and a result like that, which frequently fol¬ 
lows the use of broken doses of calomel had occurred. 

My regular family physician was absent and I was 
compelled to call in other doctors, who, when I con- 


424 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


suited them, began to treat the case, recognizing that 
the alimentary canal was seriously affected. The rem¬ 
edies they gave me had no effect on the disease. At 
the end of sixty days there was a paralysis extending 
to the lower limbs so that I was unable to walk, while 
most of the functions of the body ceased. The pulse 
rose steadily and the temperature went higher every 
day. I had to be carried up the steps at the Capitol 
in order to attend to the business of my office. My 
weight went off from 204 to 154, growing less day by 
day. 

One day I was sitting at the table in the Governor’s 
office when Dr. Roy Harris, Secretary of the State 
Board of Health, came in to consult me about some 
matter of his Department. 

When he saw me he said at once. “Governor Harris, 
what’s the matter with you? You are looking terribly 
sick.” I then told him my trouble and added that it 
looked like I was about to cross over the divide. He 
answered: “Why in the world didn’t you let me know? 
I had not heard of your sickness.” I answered that 
I thought he knew all about it. When he left he said 
to me: “Governor, I think I remember reading some¬ 
thing about your trouble. When I go to my house 
tonight I will look over my books and if I can find 
anything I will let you know.” I thanked him and 
begged that he would not forget it, as I was getting 
worse every day and my own doctors seemed unable to 
do anything for me. 

That night, while sitting by the office table at the 
Mansion about 9 :30 o’clock, the telephone rang. The 
household had gone to bed and I crawled to the tele¬ 
phone, raised myself up by a chair and answered the 
phone. The call proved to be from Dr. Harris. He 
said: “Governor, I have just read of your trouble and 
I know what you are suffering with. It is iodine poi- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


425 


soning, or is sometimes like iodine salivation. “Well,” 
I said, “Doctor, is there any remedy for it?” He 
answered, “Yes, and you must begin the use of it at 
once, for you have waited much too long. Begin tak¬ 
ing broken doses of calomel, keeping it up every two 
hours until your gums are touched. Begin the treat¬ 
ment tonight, for the disease is fatal unless controll¬ 
ed.” I sent out and got the medicine, commenced to 
take it that night, and kept it up for two days every 
two hours, until my gums got sore. 

In ten days the trouble was gone, the paralysis had 
left me and I was almost well. 

I went to what was called the “Governor’s summer 
mansion” in East Tennessee for a short rest. I vas 
met at the train by a local physician, Dr. Shoun, with 
his auto. He had lived all his life in the little village 
in the mountains, doctoring the poor people in cabins 
and shanties. He was by no means up to city ways or 
city practice. He took me over to the house, a short 
distance from the depot, and on the way I told him 
what I had been suffering with and asked him what he 
would have done for me. He replied: “Governor, I 
never heard of the disease and certainly never saw it, 
but if I had been called on to prescribe I would have 
given you calomel in broken doses until it touched your 
gums.” I replied to him: “Doctor, you may live up 
here in the mountains, but you have got more medical 
sense than a whole school of physicians.” 

Dr. Harris told me after my return that the set of 
books, which he consulted the night he telephoned me, 
were written by a German physician and had been sent 
out just before the war was declared. When I told my 
own doctor about it he said: “Governor, I had those 
same books lying under my table but I had never had 
time to read them.” 


426 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


The German doctor had wrought out the theory 
from known facts. When calomel salivates a patient 
the remedy is iodine, either in the shape of iodide of 
potassium or some other form, and he had reasoned 
that the equivalent “salivation” or complete subjec¬ 
tion of the organs by iodine could be controlled by 
mercury. I have frequently said that I owe my life to 
the discovery of the German physician. 

The innumerable rumors that went out concerning 
my sickness gave weight to the claims that my oppo¬ 
nents made concerning my inability from disease and 
the burden of years to transact business. 

The partially used bottle of medicine that brought 
on my trouble was left by me on the shelf in the back 
apartment adjacent to the Governor’s office in the 
Mansion. I was told afterwards that some one 
brought the bottle out and set it down on the office 
table labeling it, “The bottle that floored old Gov¬ 
ernor Harris.” 

There was much truth in this inscription for but for 
this bottle I think the next Governor would probably 
have waited two years more before taking his seat as 
my successor. 


PARDONS 

It was said of me, while I was making the canvass 
in the first election, that I would not be able to turn 
down an appeal for pardon when it was urged upon me 
with earnestness and pathos. My opponents stated 
that I was known to be a first cousin of Governor Rob¬ 
ert L. Taylor, of Tennessee, and that he had almost 
emptied the penitentiary, by using his pardoning power, 
and that as I was supposed to be fashioned somewhat 
after him I would follow his example and turn the 
guilty loose. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


427 


I answered this from the stump by stating that I 
was tender hearted and that if a meritorious case came 
before me I would be pretty apt to exercise the power 
in my hands, either to commute the punishment or to 
pardon. Then I added that if we wrote over the door 
of our penitentiary “He who enters here leaves all 
hope behind” and it became the policy of the admin¬ 
istration to refuse to pardon in any case, then it would 
be utterly impossible to control the penitentiary. Re¬ 
bellions without number would result. Reforms in 
conduct, to secure reduction in the time of service or 
the length of sentence would be utterly unknown. 
Everything would be cold and hard as steel and the 
law would be hated more than ever. 

Then I said, “If you want a hard-hearted, unappre¬ 
ciative Governor, one who takes no note of the suffer¬ 
ing among the innocent, through the commission of 
crime, then I frankly tell you that I am not the man 
for Governor. I suspect I would give heed to the cry 
of the widow and the orphan, and if I found that the 
public service would not suffer I would be apt to open 
the door for the unfortunate and give him another 
trial.” 

During my two years I handled about twelve hum 
dred applications for mercy and commuted the punish¬ 
ment or pardoned the offender in some six hundred of 
these cases. Looking back upon my two years work I 
have often felt that my use of the pardoning power 
affords me more consolation, more genuine pleasure 
than anything which I accomplished in my term. 

Some remarkable things happened about these par¬ 
dons. An application was made from one of the North 
Georgia counties for the pardon of a man who had 
been sentenced for some twenty years in the peniten¬ 
tiary for a crime that he had committed. His wife, 


428 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


accompanied by her attorney and some of her friends 
to help her in the advocacy of the pardon, came down 
before me. While the lawyer was making his address 
her little daughter, about six or seven years old, quiet¬ 
ly came up behind me and climbing on to the back of 
my chair put her hands on both my cheeks and said: 
“Governor, won’t you please pardon my papa and send 
him home to us before Christmas? Please do, Gov¬ 
ernor.” 

I suppose the little one had been prompted to do 
this, but it did not lack effect on the Governor’s heart. 
The tears came into his eyes and he turned around to 
her and said: “Yes, daughter, I will send him home 
if I can; and I think I can.” I gave him the pardon 
and as there were a number of people who had opposed 
it my action did not escape criticism, and while I was 
in the second race Governor Joseph M. Brown, charg¬ 
ing me with too much leniency, referred to this par¬ 
don as one that should not have been granted. 

When I had examined the records I found these 
words written on its face and signed by Governor 
Brown: “When this man has served two years longer 
he should be pardoned.” Nearly four years had 
passed. 

I never called attention to the mistake of the ex- 
Governor, for I knew he had forgotten it, and I would 
have been sorry to cause him annoyance. He had 
given me the judgeship of the Macon Circuit. I would 
not let my office force refer to the record in public. 

While I was visiting the penitentiary on one oc¬ 
casion, another little girl came up to me and used al¬ 
most the same formula.' I was standing on the floor of 
the vestibule to the prison, when the little one came 
up and took my hand and asked me to pardon her 
father. She added that her mother and the children 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


429 


needed the father; that they had no way of making 
a living since he had been taken from them. 

I answered her without hesitation, saying: “Child, 
I have heard much about your father’s case and have 
made up my mind that I will turn him loose before my 
term is ended.” She raised a shout when I said this 
and rushed to her mother, who was near by, telling 
her that the Governor would pardon the father. This 
occurred in the Stripling case. Governor Brown had 
also refused a pardon in this case at a former date. 
The facts had been given to me some time before 
my visit and I had determined to look in Stripling’s 
face before I left the prison. 

It will he remembered that Stripling had been con¬ 
victed of murder in one of the counties adjacent to 
Muscogee and sentenced to the penitentiary for life. 
He had escaped from the prison and gone to Danville, 
Virginia, where he had become a member of the city 
police and had finally been made Chief of the 
force. He had acted in every way as a good citizen, 
aiding in the administration of the law and becoming 
a real terror to evil doers. His family had gone to 
live with him and he was making a success, became a 
member of the church, and apparently was exemplary 
in his general conduct. 

When I looked into the record I found that he had 
killed a man under very peculiar circumstances. The 
man had paid attention to his wife and in a crowd 
one day had boasted that he was intimate with her, 
adding several words that set off his statement to 
her great disadvantage. Stripling was absent from 
home at the time but when he returned he was met by 
some of his friends, who told him what had been said 
of his wife. She was undoubtedly a good woman and 
he believed in her. He didn’t ask any questions, but 


430 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


took his gun and went to the house where the man 
was staying, and coming up to the side of the house 
shot him to death through the window near which he 
was sitting. He was found guilty of murder and 
sentenced to life imprisonment, as I have stated above. 

I studied the record closely. Some additions had 
been made to the testimony showing, as I thought, that 
the man really acted in defense of his wife and in be¬ 
half of her good name and standing. 

On one occasion when the Chancellor of the Uni¬ 
versity was taking dinner with me at the Mansion I 
brought out the record and gave the salient facts to 
him, asking him what he thought of the case. He 
replied at once: “If the dead man was guilty of the 
offense, as you say the record shows, he ought to have 
been killed even if the husband had shot him from the 
house ton through the chimney instead of the win¬ 
dow!” 

The Macon Telegraph took up this case and began 
a campaign in behalf of the young girl and her father. 
The purpose was to force the granting of the pardon 
at once, although my promise was only to the effect 
that I would turn the man loose before my term was 
out. I was trying to bring some of my friends to 
understand that it was right and just to grant the par¬ 
don, inasmuch as an issue had been made upon it 
throughout the State. 

I am glad to know that Stripling did well after I 
turned him loose. He soon got into position again, 
and when I heard of him last, he was taking care of 
his wife and children and making a good father and 
a good citizen. 

I recall only one instance where my use of the par¬ 
doning power was misplaced. A young man in Athens 
was convicted of some smaller crime and sentenced 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


431 


by the court to the penitentiary. Judge Brand tried 
him and fixed his sentence. I had served in the Sen¬ 
ate with Judge Brand and had learned long before to 
recognize his undoubted ability as well as his judgment 
of men and things. He came over to see me when the 
application for pardon was made for the young man 
and asked me to grant it. As a strong showing was 
made in the prisoner’s behalf and, inasmuch as the 
Judge himself had asked the pardon, I granted it 
and turned the young man loose. 

I think it was not over thirty days, perhaps, from 
the time of his release before he got on a terrible spree 
and shot a man to death in the city of Athens. 

When I talked to Judge Brand about it he told me 
that he had made up his mind never to recommend 
mercy for another criminal, and I told him that the 
matter had been a lesson to me and that I could prom¬ 
ise him to be a little more careful myself in the use 
of the pardoning power. 

There was a case, that came before me from Baker 
County, in which I took a great interest. An appli¬ 
cation was made to pardon a young man who had been 
found guilty of murder and sentenced to the peniten¬ 
tiary for life from that county. He had killed a 
man while on a visit from home, hiding his body in 
an old well, where it was found some considerable 
time afterwards. 

The crime was traced to the young man, somewhat 
on circumstantial testimony and the jury found him 
guilty, recommending him to mercy, which carried a 
life sentence to the penitentiary. 

He had been in the penitentiary for perhaps six or 
eight years. When he was sent there he was a boy 
of about sixteen. He had since professed religion, 
joined the church, and begun to teach the Bible to his 
fellow prisoners on the chain gang where he worked. 


432 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


There seemed to be a complete change in his life 
and conduct and the prison authorities believed that 
it was real and permanent. Some good friends stood 
sponsor for him and begged the Governor to give the 
boy another chance. 

I looked fully into the case, considered it in all its 
bearings, and made up my mind that the young man 
should have another opportunity to make good. His 
mother promised me that if he were turned loose she 
would take charge of, and watch over him and see as 
far as her influence went that he should not go wrong. 

I wrote into the record substantially these words: 
“This boy is guilty, but his conduct shows a genuine 
repentance. He has begged for another chance in life 
and a large number of the citizens of his county have 
seconded his appeal, some of the most influential of 
his neighbors have begged the Governor to commute 
his sentence. I have determined to do so in the ex¬ 
ercise of the mercy of the law and I turn him over to 
his mother, with the hope that his promises will be 
redeemed.” 

After my term as Governor was ended I was sitting 
one day in the President’s office of the Georgia School 
of Technology, when a tall young man, dressed in the 
uniform of a soldier, came in through the door. As 
he looked on my face he said, coming up to me: “Is 
this Governor Harris?” I answered, “Yes, Sir.” And 
he added: “Governor, I have been hunting you all 
over the State. I went to Macon to your home, I 
went to the Capitol in Atlanta, and they finally told 
me that I would find you here. I want to thank you 
for the pardon which you granted me and to tell you 
that you shall never be ashamed of the act. I will 
never bring discredit upon you by any conduct of 
mine. I have joined the army and am just about to 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


433 


start across to France. I will do my duty to my coun¬ 
try as a soldier, though I sometimes feel that I took 
on myself a little too much when I joined. My com¬ 
rades sometimes call me a penitentiary rat. But, 
Governor, I put my hand in my pocket and feel your 
pardon that I carry there and I say to myself: ‘Well, 
I may have been a penitentiary rat, but Governor Har¬ 
ris has made me a gentleman and I intend to be one.’ ” 

He went “across,” stood on the firing line in the 
battles of the Argonne, and came out with a decora¬ 
tion on his breast. He is now doing his duty as a 
good soldier and citizen ought to do. 

WOMEN ALLOWED TO PRACTICE LAW 

The law was passed during my term authorizing the 
admission of women to the Bar. As they are now 
citizens with the ballot it was felt that there would 
be no inconsistency in allowing them to take their 
place as lawyers at the Bar. This only illustrates the 
steady and determined advance of women to an equal¬ 
ity with men. 


LYNCHING 

I have already adverted to this subject in another 
portion of these reminiscences. When I went into 
office I was able to address a large gathering of the 
colored people and I took it upon myself to assure 
them that during my term I intended that they should 
have a “square deal,” in the language of Mr. Roose¬ 
velt. But I told them that in order to secure this they 
must accept the situation—remain on their own side* 
of the social line, and I would try to see that the 
white race stayed on its side. I told them that 1 
especially deplored the reputation that Georgia had 
for lynching, and that I wanted to stop it during my 


434 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


term. To do this I cautioned them that they must 
avoid the offenses which lead to it. All that was needed 
was an understanding between the races so that each 
one should avoid cause of offense to the other. 

As a matter of fact the lynching grew less in the 
State, each year of my term, until in the last six months 
there was no instance of it occurring throughout the 
commonwealth. 

THE BIRMINGHAM REUNION 

During the first year of my term the Confederate 
Veterans’ reunion came on at Birmingham, Alabama. 
I had been in the habit of going to these reunions and 
as there was an urgent invitation I asked my staff to 
join me in attending this one. My wife accompanied 
me. 

We stopped at the Tutwiler, which was offiicial 
headquarters. The Governor of Alabama was also 
present at the reunion, accompanied by his wife and 
staff. 

A banquet was tendered to the Georgia governor by 
the Governor of Alabama, which took place on one 
of the nights of the week in which the reunion oc¬ 
curred. 

After the preliminaries were finished and our hunger 
was satisfied I found out that Mrs. Governor Hender¬ 
son was really the moving spirit of the occasion. She 
took charge of the speaking and called out the speakers 
at the conclusion of the banquet. She was a beautiful 
woman of extradordinary ability, intelligence and ac¬ 
complishments. She announced in opening the pro¬ 
ceedings that each person called on must tell an anec¬ 
dote as part of the response. No one, as far as I 
knew, among my people had been advised of such a 
program, and the consequence was that we were some- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


435 


times hard put to keep up with the procession which 
the Alabamians led. I remember Governor Hender- 
son answered the call very elegantly and then I had to 
follow him. I thought of something while the Gov¬ 
ernor w T as speaking that probably prevented an entire 
failure, and then the good lady in her turn called out 
my wife to speak. It was the first time in my wife’s 
life that she had ever been asked to speak or stand 
on her feet and face a public audience. 

I am obliged to say she did well, much better I 
think than I had done, judging from the applause. 
How she ever thought of the anecdote which she told 
I was never able to understand, but she got it off with 
right good grace. If Governor Henderson thought 
as well of my wife as I did of his when that banquet 
was over he would have put her in the very forefront 
of Georgia’s representative women. I know Mrs. Hen¬ 
derson would have made a splendid Governor for 
Alabama. 

I may say here that my wife, during our term of 
office, made only one other appearance on a public 
occasion. She was called on for a speech at Milledge- 
ville at the Commencement of 1916. I had told her 
that I knew they would call her out and that she had 
better prepare a few words suited to the occasion. She 
said afterwards that she did prepare something, but 
when she came before the audience she forgot every¬ 
thing that she had written and her talk was entirely 
impromptu and entirely different from what she had 
expected to say. I think her confusion and evident 
distress appealed more strongly to the audience than 
if she had delivered a touching and eloquent discourse. 
Anyhow the class of Seniors, consisting of some two 
hundred and fifty young ladies, voted to make her an 
honorary member of the class and she sent to every 


436 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


one of them a picture of herself and husband as a 
memento of that interesting occasion. My wife has 
never tried to appear in another public program. 

SPEECH AT CRAWFORDVILLE 

Judge Linton Stephens was buried in the side yard 
of his residence. 

After the family had separated and all moved away 
and the three younger children he left were grown 
and gone, one of his daughters, Miss Nora, determined 
to have his body moved to Crawfordville, in order to 
inter it by the side of his brother, Hon. Alexander El. 
Stephens. Mr. Stephens was buried in the front yard 
of his residence at Crawfordville, known as Liberty 
Hall. She requested me to appear and deliver an 
address at the time of the second interment. 

My wife and I went down to Crawfordville for the 
purpose. A large crowd was present and it was some¬ 
thing worthy of note that I, as the Governor of Geor* 
gia, stood in the little porch that I had climbed, upon 
my first visit to Mr. Stephens, to borrow the money for 
my college course, forty-nine years before. 

I was not unmindful of the circumstance, and in 
my address called attention to the fact, referring as 
best I could to the memories of those early days. I 
gave to the audience my appreciation of both the great 
brothers, who had filled Georgia with their deeds, and 
I congratulated myself that I was in some sense con¬ 
nected with their remarkable lives. 

Miss Nora lived in New York at the time. None 
of the immediate family remained in Georgia and the 
old homestead at Sparta is in the hands of strangers. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


437 


NEW COUNTIES 

I asked the members of the Legislature in the be¬ 
ginning of my term, not to authorize the making of 
any more new counties. The number in the State had 
gradually increased, until Georgia showed more coun¬ 
ties than any state in the Union except Texas, and far 
beyond any state having the same territory. 

No new counties were made and I turned over to 
my successor the legislative body without any increase 
in its numbers. The lower House, by reason of the 
constant multiplication of counties, has already grown 
so large that legislation is carried on only with ex¬ 
treme difficulty. All floor space has been utilized and 
it is impossible to keep up with the order of business. 

VISITORS WHO CAME TO SEE AND PAY 
THEIR RESPECTS TO ME 

More than once the Hon. William J. Bryan called 
to visit me at the Mansion. He came each time in com¬ 
pany with W. S. Witham, the banker who had been 
my steadfast friend throughout my administration. 

I discussed with Mr. Bryan the situation of the 
country, but I noticed a decided reticence whenever I 
would mention the methods and policies pursued by 
President Wilson. He was unwilling to say a word 
that might be construed into a criticism of his one time 
superior in office. 

My wife was sure that Mr. Bryan would run again 
for President and she did not hesitate to tell him so. 
He told me long afterwards to say to her that she 
might not get to vote for him for President but he 
thought she would certainly vote for some other good 
Democrat who would hold the office. 

I think she is waiting for someone to be nominated 


438 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


that would answer Mr. Bryan’s description, for she 
has never as yet voted at the polls. 

Another gentleman who visited me and left a strong 
impression upon my mind was William Randolph 
Hearst. 

I was much surprised when I talked with him to find 
how different he appeared from the opinion I had prev¬ 
iously entertained concerning him. 

We discussed the labor question and when I ex¬ 
pressed surprise that he as one of the richest men in 
the Nation could entertain ideas so favorable to the 
principles of the labor organizations, he told me he 
had received his ideas as an inheritance from one of 
his parents who thought as he did. He went away 
from me after I became convinced of his worth and 
integrity, a belief which has never left me. 

The Georgian, edited then by Col. James B. Nevin, 
came to my help in the second canvass I made for 
Governor and the earnest pleas which were sent out by 
the paper brightened the skies for me and softened the 
defeat that followed. It is my hope that some day I 
can have the copies of the paper, which came out while 
I was a candidate, bound and put away in the most 
sacred place left to me in the world and kept until 
someone can look them over and write an obituary, 
when I die, that will give credit to the kind hearted 
man whose brilliant pen sent out these eulogies of an 
old Confederate soldier, in the day of his supreme 
trial. 

It is proper to state here that Mrs. Hearst accom¬ 
panied her husband on this visit to the Georgia Gov¬ 
ernor and was met by my wife upon whom she left 
an exceedingly favorable impression. My wife says 
she saw at once that Mrs. Hearst was a woman of 
great refinement, fine intellect, and charming person¬ 
ality. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


439 


Governor Whitman and his wife, of New York, also 
visited Atlanta during my term. I called on them at 
the Piedmont hotel and enjoyed very much a some¬ 
what extended conversation with them. We talked 
of our states, New York being recognized as the Em¬ 
pire State of the Union and Georgia claiming to be 
the Empire State of the South. 

I was sure at that time that Governor Whitman 
would be the next candidate of his party for President, 
but I suppose something went wrong in the machinery, 

GLIMPSES OF WORK IN THE GOVERNOR’S 
OFFICE 

My experience as Governor was in the main only a 
tragedy. I have already indicated that I went into 
office under the most favorable auspices. I was sup¬ 
ported in my candidacy, especially after my nomina¬ 
tion, by all the factions and political parties in Geor¬ 
gia. The soldiers who had served with me in the Con¬ 
federate Army—my comrades—were enthusiastic for 
me. The members of the Union Camps who had 
served with the armies of the North w r ere almost unan¬ 
imously supporting me. The Republicans of the State 
announced that they would put no one in the field 
against me, and most of the colored people voted for 
me. 

I went into the office, therefore, under favorable 
circumstances it would seem, and everything bade fair 
for a successful administration. Governor Slaton had 
left the treasury in an especially good condition, as I 
have heretofore said. He had handled the finances 
with conspicuous fidelity and success. The credit of 
the State had reached its highest point, so that its 
bonds were selling at a higher rate than those of any 
other state in the Union, save one. 


440 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


The officers and attaches in the various departments 
of the State government were all well known to me, 
for I had been continuously attending the meetings of 
the Legislature since 1882, so that there was no lack 
of familiarity with the methods of legislation and the 
transaction of the State’s business. 

I took time in writing my message to the Legislature 
and embodied in it my ideas of governmental reform, 
progress and advancement. 

There was only one great drawback, the World 
War had brought about a terrible depression in all 
business of the Nation. Our Southern farmers were 
caught with a large crop of cotton on hand and the 
price went down suddenly below the cost of produc¬ 
tion. Of course this wrought a terrible hardship on 
our people. The situation brought about that remark¬ 
able campaign set in motion throughout the State when 
the people were asked to “buy a bale of cotton” at, 
say, ten cents a pound, to aid the suffering farmers 
of the country. Many persons heeded the call and 
thousands of bales of cotton were bought and paid for 
by persons who had no use for them but simply to 
hold them until the market was resumed. 

A vacancy had occurred in the office of the Com¬ 
missioner of Agriculture; Mr. Price who had filled 
this place with marked success, having been elected 
Railroad Commissioner. His resignation took effect 
on January 1st, 1916. J. J. Brown, of Elbert County * 
had been selected by the people-to succeed Mr. Price, 
and knowing that Mr. Brown would take office in 
June, I appointed him to fill out the unexpired term. 
He had mingled much with the people and was prob¬ 
ably better versed in the real agricultural situation 
than any man in the public eye. 

I consulted much with him and at his suggestion em- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


441 


bodied in my message to the called session of the 
Legislature, which met in November, several subjects 
affecting the business of the farmers, and it was be¬ 
lieved that the Legislature by acting upon them might 
furnish aid to the greatly suffering cause. 

I also selected an agent to confer with the Depart¬ 
ment at Washington, concerning the shipment of potash 
from Chile, in order that the farmers might purchase 
fertilizer at a more reasonable figure, the war hav¬ 
ing completely stopped the German supply. 

The Farmers Union joined me in this effort, and 
Mr. Mills, the State President of the Union, was em¬ 
powered to negotiate in behalf of the State, with this 
purpose in view. He visited Washington, and his 
application was in a great measure a success. Mr. 
Mills has frequently said to me that by this step we 
had saved the farmers between twenty and thirty mil¬ 
lions of dollars in the purchase of fertilizers for 1916. 

My popularity began to wane after the meeting of 
the Legislature. The events which followed the rev¬ 
olutionary adjournment of that body created a stir 
throughout the entire State. It was believed by many 
that the Governor’s influence ought to have been suffi¬ 
cient to hold the body together at least, until the ap¬ 
propriations had been made, so that the called session 
need not have resulted. Misfortunes like these in the 
State government are always attributed to some defect 
in the Governor, some mistake, or some failure of duty. 

After the meeting of the Legislature in November 
the tide set in against the Governor. On all sides there 
was adverse criticism. The Legislature had closed the 
saloons, stopped the open violation of law, provided 
severe punishment for offenders, and laid down more 
clearly the methods by which the sale and manufac¬ 
ture of liquor was to be prevented or punished. 


442 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


There has been always a strong opposition to any 
extra session of the Legislature. The four dollars per 
day, which such a session costs for each member, is re¬ 
sented more vigorously and more positively than if 
the pay had been ten times the amount. The public is 
angered by small drains of the Treasury, but makes 
no complaint when these drains reach several thou¬ 
sands in a single item. 

The opposition, therefore, began to look around 
for candidates to turn out the Governor in the next 
election. It had been customary to give the Govern¬ 
or two terms, as it would seem to be almost impossible 
to carry out any line of policy to a successful conclu¬ 
sion in a term of only two* years. 

But the feeling of spite and revenge that crept into 
the minds of those who opposed prohibition in the 
State and felt that their private and political rights 
had been invaded caused them to set about with the 
fiercest possible determination to drive the Governor 
from office and pave the way for the repeal of what 
was to them the odious legislation. 

There was a vacancy in the Board of Trustees of 
the Agricultural College. The person occupying this 
position on the Board was also a member of the Board 
of Directors of the Georgia Experiment Station. 

Dr. L. G. Hardman, of Commerce, who had been 
occupying the place applied to the Governor for re¬ 
appointment. He had been the strongest opponent 
against the Governor at the time of his election and 
had tried to take away from him the fruits of the elec¬ 
tion, as has been previously stated in these reminis¬ 
cences. His friends very earnestly urged upon the Gov¬ 
ernor his re-appointment. 

I was unwilling to allow my private feelings to 
stand in the way of a public duty. I tried to put these 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


443 


out of the question and take the matter up without 
bias or prejudice so as to reach a conclusion justified 
by the facts. 

I re-appointed Dr. Hardman, giving him both posi¬ 
tions, and ten days after his appointment, just six 
months and nineteen days after my inauguration as 
Governor, he announced his candidacy against me for 
the second term. 

It was told me that nearly all the newspaper editors 
who opposed prohibition had written him, and that 
the disappointed liquor men over the State had urged 
him to make the race, suggesting perhaps, that they had 
opposed him in his first race, but would now stand by 
him and see that he went into the office. He yielded, and 
declared himself a candidate against me. His coming 
into the race brought in others. 

Mr. Dorsey once assured me in the most positive 
manner that he never would have entered the race had 
Hardman kept out of it, for, he said, “I was afraid 
he would be elected, and this fact might throw me back 
four years before I could come in.” 

It soon became evident that there was a vast change 
in the mind of the people towards their old Governor. 
The liquor people were disappointed and the prohi¬ 
bitionists had no further care for the situation as they 
had apparently gotten what they wanted. 

That tendency on the part of the citizens of the 
State to find fault with the Governor whenever things 
do not go as they wish began to work in the body 
politic. 

The terrible scenes in the Frank case, the bitterness 
that grew out of this matter, the banding together of 
many of the citizens raged over fancied injuries, 
gave rise to the Ku Klux Klan, with all of its poten¬ 
tialities, driving wedge after wedge between the citi- 


444 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


zens of the commonwealth, arousing antagonisms and 
calling out the bitterest feeling that characterize the 
human race. All these portended a revolution. 

The “Sage of Thomson,” who wielded an influencee 
second to that of no other man in the State, broke off 
all friendly relations with the Governor, whom he had 
supported, placing his change of heart on the fact 
that he had asked the appointment of one of the law¬ 
yers in Macon to the City Court Bench, which request 
was disregarded. I had appointed Col. Dupont Guerry, 
who was a Confederate soldier and an able lawyer, 
instead of a rising young attorney, who was favored by 
the Guardians of Liberty and earnestly recommended 
by Mr. Watson. 

WORK OF CALLED SESSION 

It may not be amiss to say here that the Legislature 
at its called session, which met on November 3rd, 
1915, not only made the appropriations necessary to 
carry on the government and passed a strong prohi¬ 
bition law, but it acted upon many other matters of 
considerable importance to the State. 

At this session the law authorizing the lease of the 
Western & Atlantic Railroad was passed. The com¬ 
mission named in the Act consisted of the Governor 
of the State; the Chairman of the Railroad Commis 
sion, and the following private citizens: G. Gunby 
Jordan, Judson L. Hand, and Fuller E. Callaway. W. 
A. Wimbush was named as Attorney and Counsel for 
the Commission. 

Mr. Callaway declined to accept the appointment 
and the commission elected in his place Hon. E. A. 
Copelan, of the County of Greene. Hon. Judson L. 
Hand, of Mitchell County, having died in the midst 
of the work, the Governor appointed in his place Hon. 
St. Elmo Massengale, of the County of Fulton. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


445 


The Commission organized by electing C. Murphey 
Candler of the Railroad Commission, Chairman. This 
commission completed the lease of the railroad to the 
Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railroad Com¬ 
pany, presenting its report to the session of the Leg¬ 
islature convening in 1917. The lease was signed on 
May nth, 1917, and a copy of it accompanied Mr. 
Candler’s report, together with the proposals that pre¬ 
ceded its completion. The lease is published as Ex¬ 
hibit “E” to the report and will be found on page 184 
of the House Journal for the session of 1917. The 
making of this lease was a prominent feature of my 
two years’ term in the Governor’s chair. 

It is not thought necessary to follow the steps pur¬ 
sued by the Commission. A great deal of time was. 
given to the work and the most careful and painstak¬ 
ing estimate and calculation of all the income from the 
properties and its various parts, the necessity for im¬ 
provement and equipment, and all other matters bear¬ 
ing upon the valuation of the property, passed under 
the Commission’s eyes. 

At one time in the negotiations, it seemed that the 
effort to lease would completely fail. A meeting had 
been had to discuss the proposals with the owners of 
the N. C. & St. L. Road. Besides a number of offi¬ 
cers in the several organizations, the tHee Presi¬ 
dents of the proprietary roads, to-wit: Harry Wal¬ 
ters, President of the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad; 
Milton H. Smith, President of the Louisville & Nash* 
ville Railroad, and John Howe Peyton, President of 
the N. C. & St. L. Railroad, met with the commission 
and discussed fully all the proposals that had been 
made. It should be remembered that the Atlantic 
Coast Line Railroad owned the majority of the stock 
of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad, while the Louis- 


446 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


ville & Nashville Railroad owned a majority of the 
stock of the N. C. & St. L. Railroad. 

The final authority, therefore, it can be seen, was 
Mr. Walters’, President of the A. C. L. Railroad. 
When the parties came together it was soon ascertain¬ 
ed that Milton H. Smith was the leading figure who 
discussed and laid down final conclusions for all the 
persons representing his side of the issues. 

I had known Mr. Smith in my earlier experiences in 
railroad management. I was for more than five years 
at the head of the Macon & Northern Railroad and 
during that time went to the conventions called by the 
railroads of the South for the purpose of looking into 
and transacting business. President Smith had made 
himself conspicuous by his strong personal character 
and his somewhat arbitrary way of transacting business. 
It has been said of him that when he would come into 
our meetings he would take a seat in one corner of 
the room and drawing from his pocket a piece of chalk 
mark a line from one side of the room around his 
corner to the other side and then say to the members: 
“Gentlemen, this represents my position. None of you 
must cross this line to come into my territory without 
my consent, or if you do you can look out for trouble.” 

It was soon found from experience that Mr. Smith, 
when he spoke thus, meant what he said, and I think 
the railroad authorities learned to respect him. 

One of the objections to me, made by my opponents 
in the race for Governor was to the effect that I had 
served in railroad business so long that I was utterly 
incompetent to lease the State Road. The gentleman 
who made this point against me insisted that the rail¬ 
road companies would completely overreach me and 
that consequently the State Road would be given away 
for much less than its value. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


447 


I had answered this argument on the stump by the 
statement that my experience in the railroad business 
would aid instead of embarrass me in making the lease. 
Besides I called attention of the people to the fact 
that I had practiced law some forty odd years of my 
life and I had never yet been known to give up a 
client’s rights or improperly compromise his interests. 
I added that if I was elected Governor I would be¬ 
come the agent of the State of Gorgia, its advocate, 
and the preserver of its rights, and, as I had never 
yet betrayed a private client, I was sure they could 
trust me to guard and preserve the interest of a pub¬ 
lic client like the State. 

After the negotiations for the lease had gone on for 
some time and several meetings had been had, Mr. 
Smith, of the Louisville & Nashville, finally laid down 
his ultimatum, stating that we could either take it or 
leave it. Knowing him as I did I had been expecting 
something of this kind. 

Our Chairman immediately, possessed of the views 
of the commission, stated to Mr. Smith that we could 
not come to his proposition, whereupn Mr. Smith, 
asking if this was the view of the commission, and be¬ 
ing told that it was, rose from his seat and left the 
room, stating that it was useless to make any furher 
efforts. The other two officers, Messrs. Walters and 
Peyton, followed him, declaring that they would go no 
further and that any additional efforts to lease would 
be abandoned as useless. 

Mr. Smith had been asked before he left the room 
whether he desired any further meetings to occur and 
he answered emphatically “no,” that he had done all 
he intended to do and repeated, “we could either take 
it or leave it.” 

After the railroad officers had left the room some 


448 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


members of the commission expressed the opinion, 
concurred in by the Chairman, that the lease would 
have to go over until after the meeting of the next 
Legislature in June, 1917, and report could be made 
that the effort to lease under the act had failed. 

This tentative conclusion of the commission was 
the cause of great distress to me, as it would leave the 
whole matter in the hands of my successor in office 
and the criticism that had been made of me would have 
been in the opinion of many absolutely justified. 

I determined, therefore, to make an effort on my 
own responsibility, stating to the commission that 1 
did not abandon hope of favorable termination. With¬ 
out delay I secured an interview with President Harry 
Walters, in which I said to him that I knew he had 
the power to control the matter, that he knew Mr. 
Smith as well as I did and much better and if he would 
express a desire to have the negotiations continued Mr. 
Smith would undoubtedly acquiesce, because he knew 
that he, Mr. Walters, had the right and the power to 
decide the question. I told Mr. Walters that I was 
anxious to make the lease for various reasons and asked 
him in behalf of the State of Georgia to take a stand 
and see if it couldn’t be brought about. He promised 
me he would do so and in a few days I received notice 
from him that he had seen Mr. Smith and that another 
meeting would be asked for, which was granted. Some 
ten days afterwards the commission again met with the 
officers of the railroad companies and the lease was 
finally completed. 

I take to myself some credit for the work that I 
did in this respect. Of course in all the intricate de¬ 
tails of the business Mr. Candler, the Chairman, was 
our main-stay, and when the negotiations were broken 
off in the way above stated I concluded that Mr. Can¬ 
dler had become disheartened and disgusted and had 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


449 


concluded that it would be better to take more time 
for the work by putting it off to the next Legislature. 

d he lease speaks for itself. At the time it became 
operative it brought in enough money annually to run 
the civil establishment of Georgia. It secured the 
credit of the State beyond all the chances and changes 
of political events, either State or National. By its 
terms the road will perhaps be double tracked and when 
turned over to the State, will be re-equipped and still 
constitute one of the main arteries of commerce be¬ 
tween Georgia and the states beyond her limits. The 
lease will terminate fifty years from the 27th day of 
December, 1919. 

It pays $45,000.00 per month and is secured by a 
deposit of bonds of the State of Georgia or of the 
United States, at the par value of Six Hundred Thou¬ 
sand Dollars. 

The income from the property that was reserved, 
and which was found not necessary to the operation 
of the road as leased, brings in an additional sum an¬ 
nually amounting in the aggregate, perhaps, to more 
than $10,000.00, making the lease approximate the 
sum of Fifty-five Thousand Dollars per month. This 
rental is largely in excess of that which the former 
lessee had been paying. 

DUELING IN GEORGIA 

Dueling had not been abolished in Georgia when I 
first came to the Bar. If a man was insulted, charged 
with lying or other serious offense, his answer was 
either a blow or a challenge. 

In my professional experience there have been four 
occasions on which I have been charged with lying. 
One was in the Legislature, one in connection with 
the City Government, one as an attorney, and the 
other as an individual. 


450 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


All these cases were resented and an apology de¬ 
manded in regular course. I have always felt that, 
although I had been charged with falsehood, yet if, 
on demand, an apology was made and the offensive 
words were withdrawn, in the same connection or 
company in which they were spoken, my honor was sat¬ 
isfied. 

I was never called on myself to withdraw a remark 
that I had made. In the four cases I felt myself com¬ 
pelled to take action and in three of the cases I have 
carefully filed away the withdrawal of the words and 
an apology for them. One of the cases mentioned oc¬ 
curred in open court. A gentleman was arguing his 
side of a case and went out of his way to state that I 
had wilfully and deliberately misrepresented the facts. 

When he made the charge I rose to my feet and 
stated that I never made a spectacle of myself in pub¬ 
lic, especially in a courthouse, I had respect for the 
court and the occasion, “but,” I added, “this matter 
will be settled between me and the gentleman outside 
the courthouse.” 

When court adjourned I sent the Sheriff to ask 
the gentleman to come into one of the ante-rooms with 
me to finish our affair. He was a known chivalrous 
fighter and had never shown any appearance of fear in 
his past life, so far as I knew. He came in promptly 
when the word was given to him. As he passed 
through the door he threw his hand to his hip pocket 
and came in with his side towards me as people are 
accustomed to stand in dueling. 

I addressed him in these words: “I have called you 
here to tell you that you are going to apologize to 
me for what you said in the court room a few moments 
ago.” He looked at me in great surprise and said: 
“How do you know I am going to apologize?” I re¬ 
plied: “Because I know you are a gentleman, and when 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


451 


you realize that you have done another gentleman an 
injustice you are brave enough to admit it and gentle¬ 
manly enough to apologize for it.” And then I went 
on and said: “That remark of yours was not merited, 
and in your sober second thought you know it was not, 
and therefore, I ask you to go into the court when it 
meets again and tell the Judge that you withdraw the 
remarks and apologize to the gentleman about whom 
you made them.” He looked at me for a little while 
and said: “This is a very unusual proceeding, I came 
in here for a fight and you ask me for an apology. I 
recognize that I did you a wrong and damned if I don’t 
repair it.” 

He went into the courthouse in the afternoon and 
took back what he had said and apologized, and we 
were afterwards the best of friends to be found at the 
Bar. 

In one of the other cases when I asked for an apol¬ 
ogy the gentleman replied: “And what do you propose 
to do if I decline to apologize?” 

I answered immediately: “Sir, this town is too small 
for both of us if you refuse this.” ' He signed an 
apology. I had only meant to leave the town. 

I have always found that when a man insults an¬ 
other, if the man who commits the offense has a gentle¬ 
man’s heart in him there arises a species of regret or 
questioning in his mind concerning the situation and 
if properly approached he will always do the thing 
which his sense of duty and his knowledge of right in¬ 
cline him to do. 

I am glad these days are forever gone. 



WITH THE GEORGIA CAVALRY AT EL PASO 







































































AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


453 


CALLING OUT THE NATIONAL GUARD 

On the 20th day of June, 1916, the National Guard 
of the United States was called out for service on the 
Mexican border. The notice of the order came to me 
about nine o’clock at night on the day of its issue. I 
immediately had the necessary orders telegraphed to 
the commanding officers and by ten o’clock next day 
the guard was in camp. One Western State got its 
troops in camp earlier than Georgia, but only one 
state preceded us. Georgia was second in calling out 
the Guard. 

This organization was under command of my son, 
General Walter A. Harris, and of course the Ad¬ 
jutant General, J. Van Holt Nash, dealt through him 
in the transmission of the orders to mobilize. 

The whole State was on the lookout, for the war 
in Europe had aroused expectation to the last degree 
and every soldier in the Union was looking for the 
call to duty. 

A great deal of excitemnt followed, as almost every 
family was directly or indirectly interested. 

To the General the call was full of unusual interest. 
He was practicing law in Macon and was forced to 
give this up very summarily, leaving business and 
clients to be attended to by his young partners. He 
had served as a Captain in the Spanish-American War, 
commanding an Atlanta Company in the Third Geor¬ 
gia, which went across to Cuba. 

Following the conclusion of this War he continued 
in the National Guard, going up by regular gradation 
until he became Brigadier-General in command of the 
entire State Guard. 

The troops rendezvoused first at Atlanta, Macon 
and Savannah. Colonel Orville H. Hall commanded 



GENERAL WALTER A. HARRIS 

Commander of the Georgia Brigade, who carried the 31st 
Division to France. 




AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


455 


the Fifth Regiment in Atlanta ; Colonel J. A. Thomas 
the Second Regiment in Macon, and Colonel Butler 
the First Regiment in Savannah. There was also the 
ist Squadron Cavalry, the ist Battalion of Field Ar¬ 
tillery, and the First Field Hospital. 

The infantry was equipped with the rifles and small 
arms in use by the United States Army at that time. 
I reviewed the Fifth Regiment from a stand at Five 
Points, Atlanta, delivering a short address. I also 
went to Macon, where I gave to the Second Regiment 
a flag that the ladies had made for it, accompanying 
the delivery there with a short address. 

The calling out and mustering of these troops made 
a deep impression on the entire State. The martial 
spirit began to be aroused everywhere. In a short 
time they were sent to the border under command of 
their officers, going into barracks near El Paso, in 
Texas, where they guarded for many months the fron¬ 
tier between Mexico and the United States. 

A good many of the Governors of the several states 
went out to Texas to visit the troops from their state, 
camping along the border of Mexico, and since this 
proceeding became fashionable I decided myself to 
visit the troops from Georgia. 

Accordingly with Adjutant-General Nash I boarded 
the train in the latter part of November, 1916, and 
went to the scene of action. We visited the various 
camps, shaking hands with the boys, and speaking words 
of encouragement to them. For many of them it 
was the first time they had ever left home in their 
lives, and consequently they seemed to appreciate our 
coming. On Thanksgiving day, the General gathered 
them all together around a great stand erected in the 
midst of the camp and here I delivered a Thanks¬ 
giving day address to the army. 


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REVIEW OF THE GEORGIA TROOPS. AT CAMP COTTON, NEAR EL PASO, TEXAS 

Mount Franklin in the rear. 













AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


457 


I spoke with a great deal of feeling, as the mem¬ 
ories of my own service as a soldier had come back 
to me and I felt deep concern for all the hoys around 
me. General Nash told me afterwards that the speech 
was the best that I had ever made. But I think he 
was only flattering me so as to help keep up the spir¬ 
its of the Commander-in-chief, as that was the only 
way his spirits could be kept alive. 

In company with General Bell, who was in com¬ 
mand of the Department, and General Morton, at 
the head of the Division, I reviewed the Georgia 
troops, noting with great pride the splendid appear¬ 
ance they made as they marched before me. 

General Bell said to me afterwards that he had been 
observing the Georgia Brigade very closely since it 
arrived, that he had visited and seen the troops of 
every civilized nation on earth, and he did not hesi¬ 
tate to say that he had never seen a body of men that 
presented a finer appearance of real soldiers than the 
Georgia Brigade. He added: “Now, mark you, I 
do not mean that they are the best drilled or disci¬ 
plined that I have ever seen, but they appear to be 
better material for soldiers than any I have ever met 
in all my experience. Your State can well be proud 
of them.” 

Major-General Morton concurred in the main in 
this criticism. 

While stopping in El Paso the Chamber of Com¬ 
merce with the Mayor and Council tendered me a ban¬ 
quet at one of the hotels of the City. The field offi¬ 
cers of the Georgia Brigade were invited, together 
with the leading Generals in command of the troops 
inTamp near by. A good many prominent citizens of 
El Paso attended the banquet. In my address I re¬ 
ferred to the fact that I was born in Tennessee, that 
one of our citizens, Gen. Sam Houston, had made 



GENERAL NASH AND GOVERNOR HARRIS 
With Georgia Brigade Headquarters at Camp Harris, 1916 






AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


459 


Texas the Lone Star Republic when he overwhelmed 
the Mexicans at San Jacinto and that the first Presi¬ 
dent of this Lone Star Republic, Gazaway B. Lamar, 
was a native Georgian, from my adopted State. So 
I told them that Texas, the greatest State of the Union, 
owed its magnificent career to a son of Tennessee and 
a son of Georgia. It is needless to say that the senti¬ 
ment was applauded, for Georgia and Tennessee were 
well represented in the audience. 

On this visit I made the acquaintance of General 
Bell’s wife. She was a daughter of my old cavalry 
leader, General Robert Ransom, and we had many a 
talk about the General and the old days. She laughed 
over the episode concerning the drummer boy at the 
frozen ford of the Holston in East Tennessee when 
Gen. Ransom, after ordering him to wade, caught the 
boy by the collar of his coat and his pants legs and 
threw him into the water. 

He broke the ice, the column plunged 

Amid the frosty glimmer. 

Another acquaintance that I made was General 
Morton. He was from Maine and was afterwards 
put in command of the 29th Division, known as the 
Division of the Blue and Gray. He gave me a “smoker” 
in his headquarters to which were invited the field offi¬ 
cers of his Division. I was thus enabled to meet his 
associates in the army, a very great honor, as I con¬ 
sidered it at the time. 

I think I may break off the thread of this narrative 
to say at this point that: after my term of office was 
completed I met General Morton on his way to Eu¬ 
rope while I was going to Washington City. We had 
quite a long talk on the journey and General Morton 
finally tendered me a position on his Staff. I had a 
strong desire to go over to France. Having served 



GENERAL NASH, GOVERNOR HARRIS, 
GENERAL HARRIS 
At Camp Harris in 1916 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


461 


in the Civil War I was anxious to find out the differ¬ 
ence in the methods followed in the great World War 
from those in our Confederate days. I believed it 
would be of exceeding great interest if I could go 
over. 

General Morton directed me to see the Secretary of 
War, tell him of the offer that was made to me, and 
ask him if he was willing to order a commission upon 
the General’s appointment. 

I lost no time after my arrival in Washington in 
carrying out the suggestion. I earnestly besought the 
Secretary to make an exception in my case and allow 
me to go over. After talking with me for some time 
he sent me to General Johnson of his Department, say¬ 
ing that if the General could pass me and agree to the 
commission he would have it issued. When I went 
to General Johnson I presented my request, telling 
him what the Secretary had said. The General looked 
at me with a sort of twinkle in his eye, and said: “Gov¬ 
ernor, how old are you?” I answered I was around 
seventy. He immediately replied: “You are too old, 
you would be in the way of the young boys,'you had 
better stay at home, for you can do more good here 
to the service than you could over there as a member 
of General Morton’s Staff.” 

“Sir,” I said: “I am not as old as you think. In 
fact I could get a whole college of physicians to certify 
that I am not over forty years of age. I think you 
ought to authorize the commission.” 

But he steadfastly refused and my chance to take 
part in the great world debate was lost. Since that 
day I have always had a warm place in my heart for 
General Morton. His Division made a fine record 
and kept fully abreast with the unrivaled exhibition of 
American courage on the front lines in France. 



THANKSGIVING DAY AT EL PASO 
Governor Harris delivering an address at Camp Cotton. 
















AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


463 


THE DRAFT 

Before the next reunion of Confederate Veterans 
which took place in Washington City on June 5th, 
1917, the most important event of my administra¬ 
tion had occurred. This was the declaration of war 
against Germany, which occurred on April 6th, 1917. 
The whole Nation was convulsed by this declar¬ 
ation and an entirely new spirit was born in a day 
throughout its bounds. 

Our political wrangles were forgotten, our race 
antagonisms were laid aside for the time being; the 
sections North and South forgot all divisions and 
for the first time since the Civil War, the great Amer¬ 
ican Nation was united almost as one man from Maine 
to California and from the Lakes to the Gulf. To 
me there was never anything that occurred in my life 
like unto the results, when I saw the United Nation 
come forward at the call of the President, to engage 
in the greatest contest that ever occurred in all the an¬ 
nals of time. I never saw one instance of cowardice 
in our preparation. I think if the Government had re¬ 
lied on making up its armies from volunteers alone it 
would probably have succeeded, but much time would 
have been lost and much danger thereby incurred. The 
juncture was momentous, for our Nation came in at 
a time when Germany and her allies appeared to be 
safely on the way to dominate the world (if our gov¬ 
ernment had not intervened). Nothing could have 
prevented the final triumph of the German armies, ac¬ 
cording to the best opinions that are now existent. 

Notwithstanding the magnitude of the task before 
the armies of the nation there was no hesitation shown 
in any direction save among those whose teachings are 
opposed to war on any account. Even the German 
immigrants, who had crossed the ocean and become 


464 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


naturalized in the United States, by a large majority, 
gave their allegiance to the cause of American valor 
and were ready to contribute to the common purposes 
of the war and stand by the flag of the government. 

Of course there were some exceptions, but as a gen¬ 
eral rule all citizens of the United States, when the 
war call sounded, felt that there was no room left for 
division, that the flag of the Union was their flag, and 
they joined or sent their boys to make good the stand 
of their adopted country. 

In Georgia a strong effort was made in one or two 
localities to defeat the purposes of the draft. Led 
by the “Sage of McDuffie,” many people showed their 
opposition and did not hesitate to say that the Gov¬ 
ernment was entirely wrong in trying to force an army 
forward in this way. I, myself, remembering the re¬ 
sults of the draft in the Civil War, was exceedingly 
fearful that to fill up the ranks in the Army and 
Navy and National Guard in this way would lower 
the morale of the soldiers and seriously interfere with 
their success on the day of battle. In the Civil War 
the Southern men drafted proved of very little worth 
in comparison with the volunteer soldiery. 

But I was wrong in my deduction. In the Civil 
War men who were called out by the draft had stead¬ 
ily and persistently remained at home when all the 
world around them was joining the army. That army 
had already been filled by volunteers, who knew that 
everything in this world worth living for was at stake 
and who went forward to fight and defend their homes. 
The drafted man who had resisted these calls showed 
plainly that he did not wish to fight, in fact was not 
made of material that would turn out a soldier. The 
consequence was that, at least in the Virginia Army, 
more than one-half of the drafted men deserted or 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


465 


left the ranks in some way, before becoming recon¬ 
ciled and getting into harmony with the soldiers who 
had preceded them. 

The word came to the Governor’s office several 
times that there were people banded together in va¬ 
rious counties, who had determined at all hazards that 
the draft should not be completed. In fact it was said 
that nightly gatherings occurred and military drills took 
place, companies being formed and officered for the 
purpose of resistance. These rumors coming to my 
ear were forwarded to the Department at Wash¬ 
ington, only out of abundant caution however, for I 
had no direct proof. 

It had been my purpose to attend the reunion of 
the Confederate Veterans at Washington on June 
5th. In fact I had been notified that an excursion 
would go down to Manassas on one day of the reunion, 
where a stand would be erected and an address de¬ 
livered for the Blue and the Gray, respectively. I 
had been selected for the Gray, and one of the North¬ 
ern Governors for the Blue. In accepting the appoint¬ 
ment I had stated that if a Southern soldier could not 
make an eloquent speech on the battle field of Ma¬ 
nassas it would be because his memory was destroyed 
or his tongue paralyzed. 

Instead of being present, however, I sat all day in 
my office with my hand on the telephone waiting for 
calls. On the day before the registration was to take 
place the Major-General, in command of the United 
States troops at Fort McPherson, had notified me 
that the Secretary of War had directed him to report 
and to receive orders from me on the next day. He 
expressed some little surprise that a Major-General 
in the regular army should be ordered to report to a 
Governor in civil life, but I consoled him with the 


466 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


statement that I was at that time, especially since war 
was declared, the Commander-in-Chief of the Army 
and Navy of Georgia, and that this had enough sig¬ 
nificance to justify the Secretary in ordering him to re¬ 
port to me. 

As it turned out we had no trouble whatever. The 
registration was taken without the slightest interrup¬ 
tion. I had put every sheriff on notice in the counties 
of the State, directing them to be ready to quell any 
opposition that might occur. Some of these officers tele¬ 
phoned me in the afternoon, (I had directed them to 
use the telephone at any time) asking why they had 
received these orders. One of them from a North 
Georgia county said: “Why, Governor, there isn’t the 
least disturbance in this county. The registration is 
now nearly finished and no one seems to be opposing 
it.” I congratulated him and told him to keep an 
eye on the registration books, as one of the threats 
that had come to me was to the effect that the books 
would be destroyed just as soon as the registration was 
completed. 

I can now understand that all this uneasiness and 
anticipation of trouble came from the strong attacks 
that had been made by Mr. Watson and some of his 
followers, in the first days succeeding the announcement 
of the draft. The sober second thought of Georgia 
took in no suggestion of such trouble, nor would it 
have been countenanced by the people. 

Our young men, after they .were registered and 
drawn, lost sight of the fact that there was any com¬ 
pulsion in the matter, and every one felt himself a 
volunteer, took his place in the ranks as a soldier with 
the honor of the Nation in his keeping, and the spirit 
of his ancestors alive in his breast. And these boys, 
selected as they were, wrote their names in everlast- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


467 


ing characters on the blood-red fields of France, and 
at no time did they lose sight of their responsibilities 
as soldiers of the greatest nation on earth. 

Before the draft the President sent out a request 
to all the Governors, asking us not to fill up the 
ranks of the National Guard until the regular army 
had been completed. Many Governors obeyed this re¬ 
quest to the great detriment of the National Guard. 
Many Governors in the West and elsewhere disre¬ 
garded the request and the result was that the Na¬ 
tional Guard was made ready in the way of members, 
drill and discipline before the National Troops. 

I have always been sorry that I conscientiously fol¬ 
lowed the request of the President in this respect. 
After these new troops had gotten into camp and be¬ 
gan to drill and perfect themselves in all the require¬ 
ments of the soldier, it became very difficult to secure 
recruits sufficient to meet the new demands as to num¬ 
ber and discipline of the Guard. I issued a proclama¬ 
tion calling on the people to fill up the National Guard. 

The camp of the National Guard was located at 
Macon, Georgia, and bore my own name, while my 
son, Walter, was the general in command, and it can 
be well understood that I felt an overwhelming anxiety 
to have the organization filled and the troops under his 
command prepared for any course that might be fol¬ 
lowed. 

The camp was afterwards moved out towards 
Twiggs County and named Camp Wheeler, after our 
great cavalry leader of the Confederate War, General 
Joseph Wheeler. 

Looking back over these times I am obliged to ad¬ 
mit that very little was done to favor the troops in 
this camp. It was named the “Dixie Division,” and 
while it was finally sent across, it reached the other side 


468 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


only about three weeks before the armistice was de¬ 
clared. 

I wrote to Senator Hoke Smith, who was on the 
Military Committee of the Senate at that time calling 
his attention to this Division, which was named the 
“Dixie Division,” and asking him what he knew about 
its treatment when it reached the French shores. He 
replied that if he had ever heard of the Dixie Division 
he had forgotten it and asked me to inform him what 
Division it was. This surprised me very much, for 
there was a complete regiment from Atlanta in the 
Division and almost all the National Guard officers 
of the State of Georgia were in this command. 

Its treatment has been a puzzle to me ever since the 
war closed. The material was good, the officers were 
without reproach, had been drilled and disciplined 
longer than any other National Guard organization, 
and it seemed to me were as capable as any corps in 
the army of rendering efficient service if called upon. 

The battalion that was taken from the Georgia Na¬ 
tional Guard and put in the Rainbow Division, almost 
all residents of Macon, Georgia, took part in some of 
the most terrible conflicts of the war. There was not 
a soldier in that battalion that was not a hero and the 
record left of their achievement is the proudest heri¬ 
tage of our community. 

The whole brigade would have acted to the same 
advantage, and yet our authorities held them back, 
sifted them out, and only sent them across when their 
ranks had been filled a second time by the levies of the 
draft from other states. 

As this “Dixie Division” was camped near my home 
I give it a more extended notice. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


469 


THE 31ST DIVISION, KNOWN AS THE 
DIXIE DIVISION 

This division was composed mainly of National 
Guard troops from Georgia, Alabama and Florida. 
It was an all-Southern division, and the Georgia Brig¬ 
ade contained a number of companies with histories 
reaching back to the Revolution. These companies 
had been kept up through the long years; their mem¬ 
bers proud of their name and history and the people 
of all classes, among which they continued to exist, 
looked upon them as the embodiment of the chivalry 
and the war-like spirit of the South. 

The reviewing officers spoke very highly of the 
brigade, and I had great hopes that those in higher au¬ 
thority would be sure to recognize its worth. I have 
already referred to a portion of this brigade’s history 
after it became part of the 31st Division. 

I have felt from the very beginning that there was 
some malevolent influence at work against the Divis¬ 
ion and I have never known the cause of this, unless 
it grew out of the name. There was a settled determi¬ 
nation in the War Department that all the soldiers in 
France should lose their local designations and be¬ 
come known only as American soldiers. North and 
South, East and West, as places of residence, were 
to be forgotten. 

As the name of this division presented an exclusively 
Southern view, it never became a favorite with some 
of the Staff, I apprehend, and there was manifest a 
disposition to keep it in the background. 

In the spring of 1918 the Secretary of War, him¬ 
self, came to Macon to review the Division. I stood 
up with him at the time and watched the various units 
pass by the Secretary. After the review was over he 


470 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


spoke very highly of the Division, telling me he thought 
it would be sent across sometime in June following, 
being about two months afterwards. 

It was not sent across, but the private soldiers of 
the infantry units were taken from the Division and 
sent to Europe, leaving only the skeleton behind, com¬ 
posed of commissioned and non-commissioned officers. 
It was then filled, as I have stated, with levies from 
the draft. 

General Leonard Wood, who was for some time 
the commanding officer of the United States Army, 
once said to me that from his observation of the Geor¬ 
gia Brigade, when the National Guard was sent to the 
border, he believed that brigade was among the best 
of the State troops that put in an appearance along 
the Mexican frontier. 

Confirming my opinion that some one in the staff 
was prejudiced against the Dixie Division, this little 
incident occurred: 

Some time after the Division was gathered at Camp 
Wheeler, an order was issued to send a large detach^ 
ment of colored troops to be made a part of it. When 
this became known an appeal was made to me to en¬ 
deavor to stop the proposed addition, as it would doubt¬ 
less cause the resignation of every field officer in this 
Southern division. I lost no time in going to Wash¬ 
ington, where I laid the matter before the Secretary of 
War. He told me at once that he had never heard 
of the movement and sent me to see the Staff and as¬ 
certain the facts for him. When I went into the 
room where the staff was operating, just as I crossed 
the threshold, without giving me time to speak one 
word, someone in the room called out: 

“Governor, we didn’t know those were damned 
coons. The order has already been countermanded 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


471 


and you needn’t worry yourself any further.” I thank¬ 
ed the distinguished body for the information they gave 
me and immediately left. 

The staff as a body did not know that it was intend¬ 
ed to make a piebald division out of this part of the 
army, but I could not help the suspicion that some¬ 
one of the staff knew the facts and in this way struck 
at the Division on account of its name. 

I may say here that no prominent officer in the Di¬ 
vision entertained any such ideas as that which kept 
coming up to me through the whole time that the 
brigade was in camp at Macon. 

I annex hereto a historical statement furnished me 
by an officer of the brigade, showing its several move¬ 
ments in the war. I have said elsewhere that I be¬ 
lieved the division would have made its mark anywhere 
along the battle line of France if it had been allowed 
to engage as the “Dixie Division.” Unfortunately, 
however, I think the name stood in the way. 

DATA ABOUT 31 ST DIVISION 

Camp Harris was established in 1915 as the “Mob¬ 
ilization Camp, Georgia National Guard.” 

The Georgia National Guard called into service 
by the President began mobilizing there June 20, 1916. 
Its name was changed to “Camp Harris” by the Ad¬ 
jutant General of Georgia in 1916, the name being 
in honor of Governor N. E. Harris. 

TIrc entire National Guard of Georgia with the ex¬ 
ception of the Coast Artillery Battalion of Savannah, 
and the 3d Separate Battalion of Infantry, which were 
not mobilized, remained at Camp Harris until Oc¬ 
tober, 1916, when it went to the Mexican border. 

The Brigade, which went to the border consisted of. 
1st Georgia Infantry, headquarters at Savannah, Col- 


472 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


onel John G. Butler; and 2d Georgia Infantry, head¬ 
quarters Macon, Colonel J. A. Thomas, Jr; 5th Geor¬ 
gia Infantry, entirely from Atlanta, Colonel Orville 
H. Hall. 

On the border it became 3d Brigade of 10th Divis¬ 
ion commanded by Brigadier-General (afterwards Ma¬ 
jor-General) Chas. G. Morton. This brigade was not 
mustered out of the service when the Mexican Border 
service was over. The organizations returned to 
home stations in March, 1917, and went into camp at 
their home towns, awaiting the declaration of war'with 
Germany. 

April 6th, 1917, war was declared. The troops of 
the 1st Georgia Brigade in the service of the United 
States were reporting to Major-General Leonard 
Wood, commanding the Southeastern Department at 
Charleston. 

He at once divided Georgia into two military de¬ 
partments, with headquarters at Atlanta and Savan¬ 
nah, respectively, and placed Brigadier-General Wal¬ 
ter A. Harris in command of both departments, with 
headquarters at Macon. All the troops of the First 
Georgia Brigade were then scattered to do guard 
duty over railroads, ports and public utilities. They 
covered Georgia from the Okefenokee Swamp to the 
mountains around Rome and they guarded Flagler’s 
line from the mainland to Key West, and two com¬ 
panies were sent to North Carolina. The Brigade 
re-assembled at Camp Harris in July, 1917, awaiting 
the formation of the 31st Division to which it was 
to be assigned. 

The three Macon companies of the 2d Georgia, 
Company B. (Macon Volunteers), Company C. 
(Floyd Rifles) ; Company F. (Macon Hussars) were 
selected by a United States Inspector-General to form 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


473 


the 151st Machine Gun Battalion of the new 42nd 
(Rainbow) Division. They left the Brigade August 
1st, 1917. The 3d Separate Battalion of Georgia In¬ 
fantry was called into the service and took their places 
in the 2nd Georgia. The Brigade furnished the guard 
for Camp Wheeler while it was building. It then 
moved out to Camp Wheeler in September, 1917, and 
Camp Harris was a memory. 

In the formation of the 31st Division only two reg¬ 
iments of infantry were allotted to the Brigade which 
became the 61st Infantry Brigade. These two regi¬ 
ments were 2d Georgia Infantry, which became 121st 
Infantry; and 5th Georgia Infantry, which became 
I22d Infantry. There was assigned to the Brigade 
one machine gun battalion, which was known as 117th 
Machine Gun Battalion. Three companies from the 
1st Georgia Infantry composed this Machine Gun Bri¬ 
gade, under a Florida Major, F. C. Powers. 

The rest of the 1st Georgia Infantry became the 
118th Field Artillery under Colonel Butler. 

The first Major-General commanding 31st Division 
was Francis J. Kernan, who went overseas almost im¬ 
mediately. Brigadier-General John L. Hayden, of the 
51st Field Artillery Brigade, commanded while Gen¬ 
eral Kernan was away. 

General Kernan being relieved and assigned to other 
duty in France, Major-General Francis H. French was 
assigned to command the division. He arrived about the 
last of March, 1918, and left about the last of May, 
1918 (the dates are not certain). Then a month or 
more of General Hayden’s temporary command and 
in June Major General LeRoy S. Lyon came to the 
Division and things began to move. These were all 
regular officers. 

The Division at last received orders to report to 
Camp Mills, New York, to go overseas. 


474 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


General Lyon went ahead to precede the Division 
overseas. 

General Walter Harris took command of the Di¬ 
vision, moved it from Camp Wheeler to Camp Mills 
and from Camp Mills to France, where under his com¬ 
mand, it reported first at Loches, then moved to Le- 
Mans where it was broken up for replacements. 

Left Camp Harris September I, 1918. 

Left Hoboken October 1st, 1918. 

Died at LeMans October 20, 1918. 

SECOND RACE FOR GOVERNOR 

I was made fully cognizant of the fact that the pro¬ 
hibition people are not as a whole very grateful to 
the man who tries to serve them. I had heard my 
partner, Mr. Hill, make this statement once and I 
certainly experienced its truth in my own case. 

A large number of prohibitionists deserted me in the 
second race. I am sure the result would have been 
different if the women had been able to vote. But the 
Nineteenth Amendment had not then been passed. 

My opponents in the second race were: 

1. Hugh M. Dorsey, who was Solicitor-General of 
the Atlanta Circuit, and had prosecuted and convicted 
Leo Frank. He was given great credit for this pros¬ 
ecution, and the success which he achieved in securing 
the conviction. While some people were little enough 
to say that the case would have carried itself in the 
courthouse, yet there is no doubt of the fact that Mr. 
Dorsey did first-class work in the prosecution and was 
entitled to great credit for the result. His resignation, 
which he handed to me before the race, is in these 
words: 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


475 


Office of Solicitor General, 

Atlanta Judicial Circuit, 

Rooms 315-318 Courthouse, 

Atlanta, Ga. 

Atlanta, Ga., June 24, 1916. 

Hon. N. E. Harris, 

Governor of Georgia, 

State Capitol, Atlanta, Ga. 

Dear Governor: 

Having announced for Governor, and desiring to devote my 
time after July 1, 1916, to my candidacy, I hereby tender my 
resignation as Solicitor-General of the Atlanta Judicial Cir¬ 
cuit, effective on that date. The time intervening will permit 
me to dispose of all matters in the office requiring my personal 
and immediate attention, and will probably afford you ample 
time in which to select my successor. 

I desire to express my cordial appreciation of the courtesy I 
have always received at your hands during the tenure of my 
office. 

Very respectfully yours, 

(Signed) HUGHM. DORSEY". 

2. Another candidate was Dr. L. G. Hardman, of 
Commerce, who had run second to me in the former 
race. The large vote which he polled in the first elec¬ 
tion made him entirely confident that he would defeat 
me on a second race. After the Legislature had ad¬ 
journed, following the first called session, the anti¬ 
prohibitionists, as I have before stated, became very 
active in trying to select a candidate who could de¬ 
feat me. It was said that Dr. Hardman received a 
volume of letters, that would have filled a large room 
twelve by sixteen, asking him to run. The number and 
character of these letters augmented his confidence in 
himself and almost assured him of his election. 


476 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


3. The other candidate was Colonel Joe Pottle, of 
Milledgeville. He had always been friendly to me. 
I practiced law under his father who was Judge, and I 
considered the son one of my warmest friends. At 
the beginning of my candidacy for the second term, he 
introduced me to the audience in Jones County, using 
some very cordial terms, while praising my merits as 
Governor of the State. 

It was something of a surprise when he came out 
against me. As far as I know he never used a dis¬ 
paraging sentence concerning me during the campaign. 
He confined himself, apparently, to the statement that 
I was too old for the hard work of the Governor’s 
office, and that I ought to give it over to one of my 
friends. 

The second regular meeting of the Legislature came 
on in June while the race was still going on. The elec¬ 
tion was to take place about the middle of September, 
There were a vast number of very important measures 
pending before the Legislature and I concluded that 
it was my duty to remain with the body and take part 
in the transaction of its business until its adjournment. 
I used to say that as I was equal to two-thirds of the 
Legislature in the passage of an Act it certainly be¬ 
hooved me to remain and watch each step taken by the 
body to inaugurate and pass the measures most neces¬ 
sary to the good of the people. My own message had 
suggested a number of measures and it seemed right 
that I should give my attention to the consideration 
of all such matters as they came up to be passed on be¬ 
fore the several Houses. 

The result was that I did not go into the field, but 
allowed my opponents full liberty to assail me in every 
way they thought fit without any reply upon my part. 
I had been sick at certain periods of my term—at one 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


477 


time looking over the dividing line very closely and 
perilously near to the crossing, as I have already stated. 

My opponents, therefore, thought fit to declare 
that my physical strength was such that it would be 
almost equivalent to putting a dead man in office if 
I were elected. As they went to every county in the 
State and as each one of them except Mr. Dorsey, 
played on this string, the people of the country came 
to the conclusion that I was in fact worn out and 
broken down under the stress of years and the burdens 
of the office. 

When I finally got to the stump and made my first 
speech to the people I had just twenty-three days left 
before the election. In that twenty-three days I visit¬ 
ed forty-five counties, speaking several times a day, 
delivering sometimes as many as six and eight speeches, 
traveling night and day to keep up with the appoint¬ 
ments. 

The first speech was made at Jonesboro, in Clay¬ 
ton County. Only a very few people came out to 
hear me, as they believed I was only a poor broken- 
down old man, hardly able to walk. My next appoint¬ 
ments were much better attended. Vast crowds began 
to come out to hear me. One old gentleman, at Fay¬ 
etteville came up to me in a crowd after I had spoken 
and said to me: “Governor, they said you were an old 
man, that you have passed your day and didn’t remem¬ 
ber from one minute to the other what you had done. 
They said you were in your dotage, and had to be car¬ 
ried into your office and someone had to hold your 
hand whenever you signed a paper. Why, Governor, 
you are not an old man, you are a young man com¬ 
paratively, and Governor, they have lied on you— 
they have lied on you grossly, and I am going to vote 
for you because they have lied on you so much.” I 


478 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


said to him in the presence of the people around about: 
“I hope there are more than one hundred thousand 
men in Georgia who will feel the same way when the 
election comes around.” 

Of the forty-five counties that I was able to reach in 
the time allowed me, I carried forty-two and a half. 
If there had been twelve days more I would have car¬ 
ried the State had the same progress been kept up. 
Mr. Dorsey, my opponent, who was elected, said to 
me afterwards: “Governor, you were coming faster 
than any candidate that I have ever known. If you 
had had twelve days longer you would probably have 
beaten me and gone into the convention with a ma¬ 
jority.” 

The policy I adopted of staying with the Legisla¬ 
ture was unfortunate in my case at least. It did not 
appeal to the people and it gave ground for the be¬ 
lief that the charges made by my opponents of my 
inability to discharge the duties of the office from old 
age and physical weakness were true in fact, so that 
I lost many a county by being unable to show myself 
within its bounds. 

The result of the campaign was the election of Mr. 
Dorsey by a majority of the county unit votes and a 
heavy plurality of the popular vote. 

After the vote had been counted and the returns 
came in there was made for me a careful calculation 
of all the votes cast in the cities and towns of the 
State. It developed that I had carried every city in 
the State except Atlanta, and every county site in the 
State except four. 

In the case of Atlanta I have never been quite satis¬ 
fied as to the real vote cast, as the ballot boxes were 
burned before there was any consolidation made. I 
charged myself in some measure with being responsible 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


479 


for this result. I finished my campaign in Fulton Coun¬ 
ty and on the night before the election at the Forsyth 
Theatre, before a vast audience, I made the state¬ 
ment that if I lost the State and yet carried Atlanta I 
would feel reconciled to the situation. This statement 
of mine caused the friends of Mr. Dorsey, who lived 
in Atlanta, to put forth extra exertions. Notwithstand¬ 
ing all of these efforts I have never been certain how 
the vote stood in the county. The man who burnt 
the ballot boxes is now dead, and I never was able to 
talk with him. 

I may say here and now, however, that after I be¬ 
came aware of the fact that I had been beaten so over¬ 
whelmingly in the country outside the towns, I was 
glad that the vote as counted showed Mr. Dorsey in 
the majority in Atlanta, for I felt it might have been 
a serious handicap for him to go into office with the 
knowledge that his own county had voted against him. 

Atlanta has, within its borders, many dear friends 
who were always kind to me; many more than in my 
own county even and I have been the recipient'of un¬ 
counted favors at the hands of its people. 

Following my defeat, at a meeting of the Chamber 
of Commerce, presided over by Robert Maddox, Pres¬ 
ident of the Atlanta National Bank, the following in¬ 
cident occurred: I was sitting by the side of Mr. 
Maddox, at the head of the table, and during the 
progress of the banquet he turned to me and said: 
“Governor Harris, when a man is once a Governor 
he is always Governor to Atlanta. Isn’t there some¬ 
thing that could be done for you to keep you in the 
City the balance of your life, to get you to settle 
down here? We could make you Emeritus Chairman 
of the Tech or give you some position like this and 
provide a salary for the same. How much money, 
per annum would it take to keep you here?” 


480 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


I replied: “Oh, you are just guying me, but I am 
obliged to you just the same.” A few minutes after¬ 
wards he turned around and said: “Governor, I am in 
earnest about this. Name a figure for which you 
would be willing to stay in Atlanta the rest of your 
life.” I said: “If you insist on it, I believe I would 
be willing to stay in Atlanta for $3,000.00 a year, at¬ 
tached in some way to the governing body of the 
Tech.” 

There were about sixteen gentlemen at his table and 
a large number at two other tables, the first citizens 
of Atlanta. He started with his own table and asked: 
“How much are you willing to give to Governor 
Harris per annum to keep him here the balance of his 
life?” One after the other answered his question un¬ 
til $4,000 was pledged by the meeting. Turning to me 
he said: “Governor, we have met your proposition— 
what do you say?” 

I came to my feet and said: “Mr. Chairman and 
gentlemen, I thank you with my whole heart. I know, 
however, that this is only a consolation prize which 
you offer me because a citizen of Atlanta has defeated 
me for Governor: I cannot take advantage of your 
kindness, but I thank you again and again, I say, with 
my whole heart and I will be grateful as long as I 
live.” 

The incident was published in the papers and came 
to the notice of Dr. Matheson. He telephoned me and 
said: “Governor, if you are willing I can arrange the 
compensation for you. I am going this morning to 
appear before the Atlanta Council and if you are will¬ 
ing, I will ask the City Government to add $3,000.00 
per annum to their appropriation so that you can get 
the salary and stay with the Tech as Chairman of its 
Board.” He followed up the suggestion and the ap- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


481 


propriation was made by the City of Atlanta. The 
Legislature was in session and a bill was introduced to 
authorize the payment of the money. It passed unan¬ 
imously in the Senate, but when it came to the House, 
although the Treasury was in no danger whatever, 
Colonel Hall, the member from Bibb and “watch dog 
of the Treasury,” pounced on the measure, and after 
discussing it strenously, secured an amendment reduc¬ 
ing the amount to $2,500.00. I asked the Senate 
to accept the amendment and the law has so stood ever 
since. 

Mr. Hall had fallen out with me on account of my 
refusal to give him the Judgeship of the City Court 
in Macon, at the time when I gave the appointment to 
Judge Guerry. He had been very bitter for a time, 
threatening me with many reprisals, but after Gov¬ 
ernor Dorsey had likewise refused to appoint him we 
made up and shook hands and agreed to be friends. 
We had had many jousts with each other in the court¬ 
house and sometimes there had been serious offense 
given. He was an able lawyer, and, but for his preju¬ 
dices, which frequently led him astray, might have pre¬ 
sided over the affairs of the commonwealth and held its 
highest office. He closed his career forever only 
a little while ago. 

MOB AT THE MANSION 

On the night following the election in which I was 
defeated the friends of Governor Dorsey gathered 
for celebration of their victory. They marched up 
and down the streets* in a large crowd and finally 
came to a point opposite the Mansion. While they 
stood here they put a speaker on the steps of the 
Baptist church and prevailed on him to address the 
meeting. There was much shouting and great con- 


482 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


fusion, but the speaker made himself heard and seem¬ 
ed to please the boisterous crowd. It appeared to be 
a species of rejoicing over the defeated candidate, es¬ 
pecially as it is said that one man shouted out while 
the demonstration was going on: “Come out of the 
Mansion, old man, and let a better one take your 
place.” 

With this exception the Atlanta people have always 
been very cordial and sympathetic towards me. I 
suppose the momentary feeling of triumph was too 
strong to be controlled. 

WHAT GOVERNOR DORSEY SAID ABOUT 
PROHIBITION 

After my defeat and the election of Governor Dor¬ 
sey to succeed me, I sent for him to come to the Man¬ 
sion in order to confer with him concerning his atti¬ 
tude on the subject of prohibition. 

He came into the Mansion, and after we had shaken 
hands and I had felicitated him on his success as a 
candidate, I asked him to state to me frankly what he 
meant to do with the prohibition laws that had been 
passed in my term. 

He spoke up at once and without hesitation, saying 
that he did not intend to touch these laws or to allow 
it to be done if he could help it. He was willing to 
leave the matter as I had left it and let some future 
Governor or Legislature determine what course was 
to be pursued. 

I congratulated him most heartily and thanked him 
for the assurance he gave me, and it is needless to 
say felt great relief. As a matter of fact no Legis¬ 
lature during his term disturbed these laws. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


483 


GOVERNOR DORSEY’S INAUGURATION 

The Legislature meets on the 4th Wednesday in 
June and the inauguration of a Governor usually takes 
place in the first week after the meeting. Governor 
Dorsey’s inauguration occurred on July 1st, which was 
in the first calendar week after the Legislature met. 

A large crowd was present and the oath was ad¬ 
ministered in the presence of the two Houses of the 
Legislature by the Chief Justice, Wm. H. Fish. The 
outgoing Governor being present, when the oath had 
been taken, he was handed the seal of the State by the 
Secretary, Mr. Cook, and it was then handed by him 
to the new Governor, with some appropriate words. 
When the new Governor had received the seal ho 
turned and gave it back into the hands of the Sec¬ 
retary of State, to be kept for his administration. 
The inaugural address was then delivered, after which 
the meeting adjourned, and the old Governor’s work 
was done. 

STATUE OF GENERAL GORDON 

In the year 1906 the Legislature appointed a com¬ 
mission to complete the work of erecting on the State 
grounds a monument to General John B. Gordon. 
I was a member of the commission, and in company 
with my wife and Mrs. Burton Smith, daughter of 
General Gordon, and others of the committee, went 
to Mamaroneck in New York to examine the statue 
in preparation by the sculptor, Mr. Borglum, at that, 
place. I wrote the report of the committee and de¬ 
livered the address at the unveiling that turned the 
monument over to the State of Georgia. 



STATUE OF GENERAL GORDON 














AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


485 


MY EXPERIENCE WITH THE JUDGES 

With a practice at the Bar of some fifty odd years 
it can be well understood that I have had many ad¬ 
ventures with the judges of the State. 

I have been admitted to practice in the State Courts, 
in the United States Courts, and in the Supreme Court 
at Washington. In all of these I have had cases some¬ 
times starting with a Justice of the Peace and ending 
with the last tribunal at the seat of government in 
Washington. 

Looking back over these days there comes to my 
mind the face of many a splendid judge who, sitting 
in the seat of justice, tried to hold the reins fairly and 
do right between man and man. When a Judge wraps 
the ermine about him and seats himself in a judge’s 
chair, there comes over him a disposition to decide 
questions according to law. If he allows outside in¬ 
influences to distract his attention and control his judg¬ 
ment he is liable to make a travesty of justice and 
disgrace the position which he holds. 

Mentioning a few of those who have made on me 
the greatest impression, I shall ask pardon of the Bar 
for singling out any one, among the large number, who 
have passed over the scenes since I commenced to 
practice. 

When I entered the Legislature in 1882 all the 
judges on the Circuit and Supreme Bench were elect¬ 
ed by that body and consequently a canvass was made 
of the two Houses in every case. 

Judge Samuel Hall, of Macon, had been a very 
prominent member of the Bar from the time I had 
entered it. He was especially a friend to the young 
lawyers; a walking encyclopedia. He could point out 
to us at any time authority that covered the point we 


486 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


were making, frequently giving the name of the volume 
as well as the case. 

I had learned to love and admire him. He was 
genial in his way, gentle in his conversation, believed 
always in the right thing, and showed judgment in 
every position which he occupied. He was a fine law T - 
yer, possibly better with the court than with the jury, 
as his wonderful memory, and wide erudition gave him 
an especial advantage in enlightening the court and 
expounding the law. He never took a position that 
he thought could not be sustained by authority. I 
have heard him tell the court frankly that he did not 
believe that the law would uphold a position which his 
associate had taken in the case. The court was al¬ 
ways sure of getting his real belief if the question was 
asked him about any matter under discussion. 

He practiced in the neighboring counties and I met 
him at each one of the courts that I attended as well 
as in Macon. His friends determined to try to elect 
him to the Supreme Bench and for this purpose pre¬ 
sented his name to the Legislature. The vacancy to 
be filled was made by the expiration of the term of 
Judge Alexander Speer; to my mind, one of the purest 
and noblest of the great judges who have filled places 
in our supreme tribunal. 

Judge Hall was very careless in his dress. He 
made very little pretense in this matter, though con¬ 
stantly attending every accessible court. When it was 
determined to present his name, the persons who were 
back of him concluded to have him make a good ap¬ 
pearance. One of his good friends, who was a cloth¬ 
ing merchant, sold him at less than half price a new suit 
of clothes. His friends among the younger members 
of the Bar bought an elegant beaver hat for him and 
accompanied him to the Legislature. He took his seat 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


487 


in a corner of the Kimball House and the young men, 
his friends, brought the members of the Legislature 
forward to shake hands with him and become ac¬ 
quainted. 

My room-mate at that time was Col. Tom Eason, 
and knowing Col. Hall as he did, he took an especial 
interest in pushing his candidacy. 

It was a striking figure that came under the gaze 
of the members as they were brought up to see him. 
He was an inveterate tobacco chewer, and in spitting 
the tobacco juice, allowed it to fall down on his shirt 
front. Leaning over in the chair the shirt front would 
extend itself on his bosom and the consequence was 
every time he emptied the tobacco juice from his mouth 
the shirt front received a portion of it. 

Absurd as it may seem to write of such things, yet 
to this fact more than almost to any other he owed 
his election. When the members from the country 
counties, and they were in a large majority, came for¬ 
ward to see him, they noticed his manners and spoke 
of it among themselves. His beaver hat was on the 
back of his head and his fine store clothes showed off 
his form to great advantage, but instead of driving 
off or disgusting the members of the Legislature, they 
would shake his hand, listen to his kindly greeting, 
and go away with the statement: “That’s a good man. 
He’s not stuck up. He will make a good Judge. He’s 
no band-box dude. We will vote for him.” And they 
did, electing him by a large majority. He made a 
splendid official, doing credit to the bench and giving 
satisfaction to the country. 

THE DIXON WILL CASE 

There came up during Judge Hall’s time the cele¬ 
brated Dixon Will Case. David Dixon, of Han¬ 
cock County, had died and left a will bequeathing his 


488 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


estate, amounting to more than a million dollars, to 
a colored woman and her offspring, who lived on the 
place with him. The will was contested on various 
grounds, among others, setting up the race question 
and the right of a testator to cut out his white heirs 
and give his property to his illegitimate colored chil¬ 
dren. He was a man known all over the State, an 
authority on farming, and wonderfully successful in 
the management of large landed interests in Hancock 
and possibly other counties. 

The heirs at law employed my firm and Captain 
John C. Rutherford to caveat the will. We tried the 
case in the Superior Court of Hancock County on ap¬ 
peal. from the Ordinary and the jury, taken from the 
Grand Jury, found against us. We carried it by 
writ of error to the Supreme Court. Col. C. W. Du- 
Bose, Milton Reese and Judge Reese defended the will. 

The Bench, at the time the case came'up, consisted of 
Judge James Jackson, Chief Justice, Samuel Hall and 
Mark Blandford Associate Justices. I opened the 
case for the plaintiffs in error, on the first day after 
it was reached. 

I had noticed that Judge Blandford had shown a 
steady dissent from all the law points that we pre¬ 
sented for the plaintiff in error, by his questions dis¬ 
closing a decided leaning to the defendants in error. 
At the noon hour two members of the court, Judges 
Hall and Blandford, called me into the library to dis¬ 
cuss the case. This, of course, was entirely out of the 
ordinary, but as the case involved questions of State 
and National policy, the judges were willing to talk 
to me to ascertain what view was entertained outside 
the courthouse. I spoke frankly to them, told them as 
far as I could, how the people felt concerning the 
will and then stated that I had done the best I could 
with the argument that I had already made. They 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


489 


were very frank with me, in fact they trusted me as few. 
lawyers have within my knowledge ever been trusted 
by a reviewing court. 

I may say here that I was a close personal friend 
of each one. Judge Blandford was a one-armed Con¬ 
federate soldier, and my vote cast for him in the Leg¬ 
islature, was the deciding vote that gave him his posi¬ 
tion. Judge Hall, I loved as a father. I regarded 
him as a nobleman of the old school, one of the safest 
and truest men that ever sat on a judge’s bench. 

After the interview had lasted for some time Judge 
Blandford said: “You had better settle the case,” in¬ 
timating that he did not wish to decide it against us. 
I replied at once that I could not settle the case now, 
after his intimations during the morning, that the de* 
fendants in error were absolutely confident of the final 
result. Thereupon he said: “I’ll help you out. Let 
me ask a few questions of the counsel.who speaks for 
the defendants in error this afternoon and he won’t 
be so confident at the end of my questions.” 

I agreed to make the effort to settle and we sepa¬ 
rated. 

Sure enough, when Col. Reese -came to speak in the 
afternoon, Judge Blandford hurled at him a large 
number of questions, evidently trying to obliterate the 
impression that had already gone out. 

When the session closed in the afternoon I lost no 
time in approaching the opposition counsel and ask¬ 
ing for a settlement. I found the counsel absolutely 
averse even to considering a proposition. Col. Du- 
Bose was the executor and he set the foot down square¬ 
ly against any compromise, Col. Reese agreeing readily 
with his views. 

It looked to us then like the case was completely 
gone against us, judging by what the two members of 


490 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


the court had told me. I have never mentioned the 
circumstance of my conversation with the members 
of the bench to any outsider, but I felt it my duty to 
talk to my associate counsel, Col. Rutherford, who was 
to speak in the morning, concluding for our side. 
When I told him he was startled, hurt, and almost 
overwhelmed it seemed to me. I told him that the 
court had absolutely decided the question against us 
and that the case seemed to be completely gone. I 
also told him of my efforts to settle and the failure 
that resulted. Then I left him. 

I have heard since that he never slept a moment 
during the entire night. His whole being was stirred 
to its depths as it had never been before. He went to 
bed but never closed his eyes, and in the morning he 
put a wet towel containing ice around his forehead, 
took a light breakfast, and then went to the court¬ 
house. 

A good portion of the Legislature, which was then 
in session, had gathered in to hear the final argument. 
I took my seat near the clerk’s stand, where I could 
look in Col. Rutherford’s face. When he rose to 
speak I saw that some deep feeling was working upon 
him. His face had a hard stern look upon it. When 
he opened, his first words disclosed a depth of feeling 
that I had never seen him show before. He bent his 
head and threw his body forward, taking a step to¬ 
wards the bench. I said to myself, as he began: “Old 
man, the Cobb blood is stirring in you. Your ances¬ 
tors were race horses, and you have got it in you.” 

Then he opened. He began by referring to the fact 
that he had been informed that the case was practi¬ 
cally decided against him; that he was not willing to 
admit or believe that any tribunal of justice would treat 
a great case pending before it in such a manner. Then 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


491 


he delivered a speech such as has never been heard in 
any courthouse in Georgia, or in the South, I presume. 

His mother was Howell Cobb’s sister and his father 
was my old teacher at Athens. The eloquence in his 
words, the fire in his eye, and the deep feeling of his 
soul stirred to the utmost, made a most terrible impres¬ 
sion upon me, and I knew must have affected the court. 
One after another he took up the points; showed that 
the future of the Anglo-Saxon, the traditions of the 
past, the hopes of the future were all concerned in the 
questions he was discussing. The appeals grew fiercer 
and stronger as he spoke. He finally overwhelmed the 
court; the Chief Justice put his head down upon the 
docket before him and wept like a child. Judge Hall 
showed his appreciation by bringing his hand down 
upon the desk and saying: “Captain Rutherford, you 
are throwing new light upon this case—the court had 
not understood it before.” 

The lawyer thanked the Judge, and then said he 
had known him so long that he could not conceive how 
he could have misjudged the position and overlooked 
the merits as was reported. When he finished his argu¬ 
ment on the law points, he closed with an appeal to 
the court begging them not to forget their duty to the 
country and to the nation at large. 

The Chief Justice brought his hand down upon the 
book in front of him with a resounding crash and said: 
“I would rather die in my place than uphold this will.” 
Judge Hall came down from the bench, took Captain 
Rutherford’s hand and said to him: “Captain Ruther¬ 
ford, write out this speech and I will put it in the opin¬ 
ion I shall write that it may be a warning and an appeal 
to the people of this generation. You have completely 
changed my mind.” 

That afternoon the counsel for the defendants in 


492 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


error saw me and offered a settlement. Some of our 
clients were unwilling to accept it. I, however, urged 
it upon them, and begged them to keep the offer pend¬ 
ing until I could bring about an agreement. 

A few days afterwards the Chief Justice was stricken 
with pneumonia and in a few days was dead. No op¬ 
portunity had been given for consultation and dis¬ 
cussion of the case, as the Judge was stricken before 
the next meeting of the court. Judge Blandford had 
never varied it seemed, but steadfastly determined to 
uphold the decision. 

Judge Logan E. Bleckley was appointed to fill the 
vacancy caused by the death of Judge Jackson, and 
when we applied for a re-argument the court under 
his direction ruled against us, thus leaving the decision 
to the two surviving judges who had heard the discus¬ 
sion. 

When it was announced that the Court was ready to 
decide the case I went to the court room to hear the 
decision read. In those days the court read its de¬ 
cisions from the bench. A long decision was written 
by Judge Hall affirming the judgment below. As he 
read it I saw that his feelings were enlisted, deeply en¬ 
listed. His voice was hoarse and his manner was ex¬ 
cited. At one time when reciting the facts he looked 
at me and I shook my head in dissent. I saw his face 
redden and I was sorry that I had shown any sign of 
disapproval. When he read the decision he left the 
city for a short vacation at Mount Airy. Here he was 
taken sick, I always thought under the burden and 
stress of the awful case that they had made him de¬ 
cide. He died in a short while, never taking his seat 
again. 

I have heard that some of his friends, who were in 
favor of the will, had made him feel that it was his 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


4ys 


duty to sustain the decision, even against his own con¬ 
victions and his great sense of right and justice fought 
against his patriotic leanings and conquered, though 
his heart was broken. The money went to the negroes 
and was squandered, I have heard, within about five 
years time, not a cent being left. 

The decision is reported in 78th Georgia and has 
been followed in other jurisdictions, and I suppose it 
is now settled law throughout the Southern States that 
a man may leave his property to his illegitimate negro 
offspring, even to the exclusion of his childless widow 
and his white nephews and nieces. 

When the argument was completed there was a re¬ 
cess in the court room and a number of the Legisla¬ 
tors complimented Captain Rutherford on his able 
address and one of them spoke out openly, using a 
semi-profane expression, saying: “Thank God, that 
damned will is dead.” 

THE UNITED STATES JUDGES 

When I first came to Macon Judge Erskine was the 
United States Judge. He was followed by Judge Mc- 
Cay and the next in succession was Judge Emory Speer. 

Judge Speer had been my club mate and good friend 
in college. I followed him in one of the great offices 
that a member of our club could hold and our minds 
ran together in many instances. He was a fine de¬ 
bater, one of the best writers in the Institution, son 
of a Methodist preacher and had an excellent and noble 
lady for a mother. After my graduation he wrote to 
me offering to go into partnership with me in Athens 
in the publication of a newspaper at that place. He 
believed we could make a great success, as he said he 
could write well and I could at least speak well, but 
I declined. 


494 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


My partner, Mr. Hill, preferred the practice of the 
United States Court and looked after our cases in that 
jurisdiction, as I have already stated. I only appeared 
when the case we were trying had an important bear¬ 
ing and my partner was afraid of the Court’s ruling. 

When the Macon and Northern Railroad was put 
into the hands of a receiver the bondholders sent a 
petition to Judge Speer asking him to give me the ap¬ 
pointment. He did so and I took charge of the road, 
as I have already stated, running it as receiver for 
some four or five years, then afterwards for a time as 
President and then Vice-President in charge. 

I do not think my administration was anything to be 
proud of. I kept the road out of debt but I couldn’t 
pay the interest on the bonds, as it was only a short 
line and had not very much patronage at either termi¬ 
nal. After its re-organization it was sold to the West 
Point Terminal Company and was operated jointly by 
the Central & Southern Railway Companies. 

I have set out in another part of these reminiscences 
the circumstances attending its sale to Mr. John In¬ 
man, President of the West Point Terminal Company. 

After the sale of the road and my election by the 
stockholders as President and afterwards Vice-Presi¬ 
dent in charge, Judge Speer removed me from the re¬ 
ceivership, as hereinbefore stated. 

For a long period the Judge would not speak to me 
when we met, but after I was appointed Judge of the 
Superior Court he met me in the elevator at the Fed¬ 
eral Building one day and said, as if nothing had ever 
occurred between us: “Nat, I think you and I can take 
care of the morals of this city and see that the law is 
enforced. We can make a great city out of it.” 

After my election as Governor the estate of James 
M. Smith, of Lexington, was taken charge by Judge 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


495 


Speer and a receiver appointed. His order taking the 
estate under control enjoined all claims pending against 
it and directed applications for relief to be filed in 
his court. This was the effect of the order. 

There was pending before the Ordinary in Ogle¬ 
thorpe County a claim for some hundred and twenty- 
five thousand dollars in behalf of the State for in¬ 
heritance tax. The State was in need of this money 
and I directed Judge Hart, former Attorney-General, 
as special counsel for the State, to file an application 
before Judge Speer in Macon asking him to allow this 
money to be paid, as the State was sadly in need of 
it and the claim was superior to all others—in fact was 
not contested. I remember using some such words as 
these to Judge Hart before he went to Macon to file 
the application: “Judge, be very careful about what 
you say to the court, for Judge Speer is exceedingly 
jealous of his authority and if you should offend him 
in any way it will be very difficult for us to secure the 
order.” 

Judge Hart evidently forgot my instructions when 
he came before the court. He had never been used to 
the peculiar methods followed by Judge Speer, who, 
to say the least, could never brook the least criticism 
of his acts or question as to his jurisdiction or author¬ 
ity. I was told afterwards that Judge Hart used some 
very strong expressions, speaking boldly his conclu¬ 
sions concerning what to him appeared to be a most 
decided usurpation of power on the part of the court, 
especially in stopping the collection of State Taxes and 
claims of this character by injunction. The result was 
a clash as I had well anticipated, and Judge Speer re¬ 
fused the application in strong and vigorous terms. He 
treated the application as having been made by myself 
as Governor and used some harsh expressions concern- 


496 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


ing the proceeding. The case was carried to the Cir¬ 
cuit Court of Appeals and before a hearing the in¬ 
junction against the State’s claims was immediately 
dissolved. 

When the Legislature met in 1916 I called its at¬ 
tention to the act of Judge Speer in enjoining the 
collection of this claim and used these words: “His 
(Judge Speer’s) action necessarily delayed the collec¬ 
tion of the State’s claim which, to say the least of it, 
was rather ‘unusual.’ But the matter is now pend¬ 
ing before the Court of Appeals in Atlanta, and a de¬ 
cision is expected in October. Meantime that Court 
set aside the restrictive order passed by the district 
judge and it is hoped that the proceedings in the Or¬ 
dinary’s court to fix the amount of the tax in order to 
secure the payment of the same will he allowed to go 
forward in the ordinary way.” 

This part of the message was quoted in the news¬ 
papers and reference was made to a conflict between 
the Governor and Judge Speer. I have heard that the 
Judge was very much hurt by this reference. The 
word “unusual” which I quoted was employed by him 
in his criticism of my action and I retorted in this 
way. He was always a loyal Georgian and I think was 
sorry to have the matter referred to in such terms. 

He never afterwards spoke to me and on one occa¬ 
sion subsequent to this, when a banquet was given to 
the New York Chautauqua in Macon, he declined to 
sit by me at the table, asking that his seat be moved 
to some other place. 

I never saw him again until death had closed his 
eyes in this world forever. 

He had many good traits as well as some hard to 
understand. I have said often, and repeat the words 
here, that whenever a question came before him that 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


497 


had a moral side to it he always took that side. I 
thought it was the inspiration of a noble father and 
a Christian mother that held him always to the side 
of right. He told me one time that he could feel the 
prayers of his old father holding him back when he 
came to a precipice over which he was about to step. 

I have not escaped without wounds from our own 
Supreme Court. One of our leading mercantile houses 
got into difficulties and I filed an equitable proceed¬ 
ing for injunction and receiver. The relief was re¬ 
fused and I carried the case to the Supreme Court for 
review. Col. Hines, of the firm of Nisbet, Bacon & 
Hines, was with me in the case when we tried it in the 
court below. One of the points we made was that the 
court stopped us without allowing a full hearing (on 
account of the coming on of midnight Saturday). We 
had taken all the afternoon and the argument for the 
plaintiffs was broken into by the coming of Sunday, 
when the court refused to sit longer and decided against 
us. We carried the case to the Supreme Court and 
it was affirmed. The case came to trial some time 
afterwards and the jury found a verdict in our favor 
giving us the complete relief which we had asked. 

When the verdict was rendered I sent a copy of 
it to Judge Bleckley at his summer home on Screamer 
Mountain, to show him that the jury had sustained our 
contention. 

I learned afterwards that he was just writing the 
opinion on our case for injunction and receiver, which 
we had lost, and he took occasion to include the crit¬ 
icism found in the Sixty-Third Georgia first case. He 
told me afterwards that he did not have me in mind 
when he wrote these words, but was thinking of Col¬ 
onel Hines. All the same I took them to myself for I 
had controlled the case. 



498 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


I liked Judge Bleckley. He was a very remarkable 
man and no one like him ever presided over a court 
in Georgia. I was sitting in the State Library one day 
and he entered and coming up to where I was sitting 
said to me: “Harris, do you know any thriving town 
in this State where a man might go and practice law 
and grow up with the place, making a living at the 
same time?” 

He had left the bench some time before and was 
doing some practice at law in Atlanta, especially in 
cases before the Supreme Court. I looked on him as 
practically retired, so his question startled me, and 1 
said: “Why Judge, you are not going into practice 
again are you? You wrote that poem in Sixty-Fourth 
Georgia on ‘Rest,’ and haven’t you reached a time now 
when you can afford to take the advice you gave to 
others?” He replied with great earnestness in his 
voice: “Harris, I was mistaken—Harris, I was mis¬ 
taken. There is no rest for a man in our profession. 
He must die in harness.” 

The poem is as follows, found in 64th Georgia, 
page 452: 


IN THE MATTER OF REST 

Rest for hand and brow and breast, 

For fingers, heart and brain! 

Rest and peace! a long release 
From labor and from pain: 

Pain of doubt, fatigue, despair— 

Pain of darkness everywhere, 

And seeking light in vain! 

Peace and rest! Are they the best 
For mortals here below? 

Is soft repose from work and woes 
A bliss for men to know? 

Bliss of time is bliss of toil: 

No bliss but this, from sun and soil, 
Does God permit to grow. 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 499 

Judge Bleckley was an elegant writer, both of verse 
and prose. He entered the University of Georgia after 
he had left the bench and pursued a course of studies 
in the Institution while my partner, Mr. Hill, was the 
Chancellor. The step looked so extraordinary that 
we thought his mind might have become affected; but 
he kept his strength to the last. 


Judge Thomas J. Simmons was Chief Justice fol¬ 
lowing Judge Bleckley. He was Judge of the Macon 
Circuit for a considerable period of years before he 
was elevated to the Supreme Bench. When he first 
entered on the duties of Judge in Macon I could not 
command his attention in any argument I made or se¬ 
cure a decision from him. His mind was of a different 
order from my own. “Having seen the mountains in 
my childhood,” I had allowed my imagination to go 
beyond the normal. Judge Simmons had no imagi¬ 
nation and had no sympathy with a man who at¬ 
tempted to interlard his speeches before him with 
classic references or poetical sentences. He said to 
me more than once: “Oh, let all that foolishness stop 
and get to your case.” I despaired of ever finding a 
channel that would reach his mind and heart. One 
day after he had been on the bench more than two 
years he went into the Judge’s chambers from the court 
room and motioned to me to follow him. 

I did so, and when I reached the room he directed 
me to take a seat and then rose up and commenced 
pacing the room from one end to another, finally he 
said to me: “Harris, I want to tell you something in 
confidence about myself. I do not know much law 
and I have been exceedingly afraid that I will rule 
wrong or do injustice in the trial of the cases that come 
before me. I pledge you my honor that for the two 
years and better that I have been upon the bench I 



500 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


have spent almost one-third of the time on my knees 
praying the Lord to direct me and keep me from doing 
wrong.” 

The statement was like a revelation to me. I could 
hardly speak when he made it. And after I had talked 
with him awhile I went away with my eyes full of 
tears. I said then to myself: “If I have failed here¬ 
tofore to convince him of the justice of my case I am 
determined that I will never do SO' again, or if I do I 
will know then it is my own fault and not his.” 

I never had any further trouble with him in the trial 
of cases. I found him trying to follow the law 
with the most persistent and settled determination and 
if I failed to convince him at any time I accepted my 
defeat as one that was deserved. I loved him from that 
time to his death. In every race that he made after¬ 
wards he asked me to take the head of his campaign 
for him, and I did so. When he died there was no 
more earnest mourner that followed his bier than the 
man who at first had failed to appreciate and under¬ 
stand him. 

Governor Terrell, who was presiding over the state’s 
fortunes at the time of his death, asked me if I would 
take his place, meaning to give the Chief Justice’s po¬ 
sition to some member of the court and then fill the 
Associate Justice place left vacant. I was absorbed in 
business and refused to consider the suggestion. 

MY PARTNERSHIP WITH MR, HILL 

Elsewhere in these reminiscences I have given a de¬ 
scription of my partners. Nothing which I could say 
would ever sufficiently express my gratitude and de¬ 
votion to Walter B. Hill. From the time when he en¬ 
tered the University, in the second term Sophomore, 
to the time of his death there was the closest, deepest, 
and most profound love between us. His face attract- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


501 


ed me the first day he came to the class. I felt a 
strong drawing towards him, and when it was followed 
up by a close association I never lost my first impres¬ 
sions. From the beginning to the end there was never 
a misunderstanding between us. We never used a 
harsh word the one to the other. We tried to find out 
what the other wanted in almost every matter and fol¬ 
lowed accordingly. I can remember only one difference 
that we ever had in our judgment of the law. A client 
came into the office and consulted first with Mr. Hill. 
He decided that the case was a good one and agreed 
to undertake it. When I came into the office he told 
me of it and I said to him: “Walter, you made a mis¬ 
take in this—the law is against us entirely.” He still 
persisted in his belief that I was wrong; went before 
the court, tried the case and gained it. He said to me 
after his success: “Now you see I was right, don’t 
you, and that you were wrong?” 

These were the hardest words he ever said to me 
about a case. I replied: “Walter, the case is not over 
yet. The other side will take it to the Supreme Court.” 
It was taken to the Supreme Court and the case was 
reversed. It was reversed with a decision that settled 
it, laying down the law exactly as I had told my part¬ 
ner would be found correct. He was generous hearted, 
and coming to me with the decision in his hand said: 
“Nat, I will never differ from you again in our part¬ 
nership. We will pull together from now on.” 

He gave himself to the advocacy of the prohibition 
cause in Georgia. He put his heart and his life into it. 
He wrote, spoke and traveled in its behalf. He did 
not live to see the success of his work. He was recog¬ 
nized as the apostle of prohibition in Georgia, and when 
he died he left the work to me, begging me to finish 
it for him. 

I took it up and fought the battle in the State, first 


502 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


before the Legislature in 1907, and afterwards as Gov¬ 
ernor when the Bone Dry Law was finally passed. All 
that I did, all that was accomplished, I lay on the 
grave of my dead partner, for it was his work and 
the expression of his wish that brought about whatever 
success I achieved. 

Mr. Hill acted as Chancellor of the University for 
some six years, during which time he spread the fame 
of the University throughout the nation and even 
among the educational institutions of Europe. 

When he died in December, 1905, letters of sym¬ 
pathy or condolence were received from all over the 
United States and many letters likewise came from 
England, France and Germany. 

He has been called in the University vernacular, 
“The Great Chancellor,” and I think he deserved it 
all. 

After his death the Board of Trustees three times 
tendered me the position of Chancellor to succeed 
him. While the matter was pending the alumni of 
the Georgia Tech sent me a petition purporting to 
be signed by every living graduate, asking me not to 
take the position, but to stay with the Tech as long 
as I lived. I think the friends of the Technological 
School believed that my election as Chancellor meant 
the transfer of the school to Athens. In any event, 
I felt compelled to refuse the position, although it 
was accompanied with an offer of a $10,000 salary 
and a new house on the campus, to cost not less than 
$20,000. 

ACTING AS PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA TECH 

Dr. Kenneth G. Matheson had been on the teaching 
force of the Georgia School of Technology for some 
twenty years. During seventeen of these years he 
had served as President of the Institution. He was 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


503 


born in South Carolina on July 28th, 1864. He was of 
a distinguished family, his people on the mother’s side 
having occupied high positions in the country. He 
was educated first at The Citadel, South Carolina, 
then taking the Master of Arts Degree at Leland 
Stanford University, and afterwards studying both at 
the Chicago and Columbia Universities. He was a 
man of fine presence, splendid bearing, with the very 
highest order of principles, in fact I considered him 
a high class nobleman in a degenerate age. He was 
patriotic also, and after aiding in the education of a 
large number of boys in the Aviation School after war 
was declared, the Tech having been appointed the 8th 
Ground School of Aviation in the Union, he felt a 
strong desire to take part himself in the war. He, 
therefore, secured leave of absence from the institu¬ 
tion and tendered his services to the Government and 
was appointed Division Chief of the Y. M. C. A. in 
the Langres Area in France. He remained in the 
service from March to September, 1918, on the front 
in France. In his absence I was selected by the Trus¬ 
tees to act as the President of the institution. 

I was willing to do this, as I had just left the Gov¬ 
ernor’s chair and the work at the Tech was entirely 
military. In fact the school had been tendered to the 
United States Government for war purposes. While 
I was in charge the classes occupied about ninety days 
in training and at the end of their term a large ma¬ 
jority were given commissions in the aviation corps. 

First and last the Tech sent out in this way, I am 
told, about thirty-seven hundred young men to take 
part in the war. They were scattered through the 
various training camps of the United States while a 
large portion went across to France. 

Dr. Emerson, the Dean of the Chemical School of 
the Institution, acted as my assistant in the education 


504 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


of the young men and the superintendence of the Mil¬ 
itary School was looked after by Prof. R. H. Lowndes. 
Each class generally numbered about five hundred, and 
the work seemed to be carried on with reasonable suc¬ 
cess. At least it secured the approval of the De¬ 
partment of Aviation at Washington. 

I look back on this work with some degree of grati¬ 
fication. I had asked to be allowed to go across my¬ 
self to take part in the military operations in France 
but was refused a commission by the Secretary of War 
on account of my age. I tried to do something on 
this side of the water so that I might not be consid¬ 
ered a cipher, while the whole Nation was engaged in 
lending aid in the terrible struggle. 

It was my habit to address every class that was 
graduated. I was accustomed to tell the young men 
that they were now graduates of the Georgia Tech; 
that they carried its colors, and wherever they went, 
would owe it allegiance as their military Alma Mater. 
Then I told them that the flag that would float over 
them was the flag of their country, that it was their 
duty to uphold it and never lower it, or in the serv¬ 
ice do aught to disgrace it and that the eyes of the 
school would follow them. 

A pathetic incident took place in reference to one of 
these boys that went out from the Tech. He was sent 
to France and on one of his flights was shot down by 
a German plane and fell to the ground mortally wound¬ 
ed. His comrades gathered around him as he lay 
stretched upon the soil of France, to hear his last re¬ 
quest and to transmit his farewells to his people across 
the sea. After he had enumerated a number of things 
that he wished said and done, his life ebbing fast 
away, he turned to his comrades and almost with his 
latest breath said: “And tell the Tech boys and the old 
Governor that I did my duty.” 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


505 


And then he died. The boys wrote the message to 
us and it came across the ocean bringing tears to our 
eyes as a tribute to the gallant boy who had given his 
life in that far land for his flag and his country. 

At the commencement which occurred on June ioth, 
1918, very few of the graduates were present to re¬ 
ceive their diplomas. It was thought for awhile that 
commencement ceremonies would not be necessary, and 
I think possibly this was the view of the faculty, but 
I had determined not to allow the occasion to be passed 
over without some kind of ceremony, so it was deter¬ 
mined to have the usual exercises, barring the presence 
of the boys who graduated. 

The commencement address was delivered by Hon. 
Clifford Walker, who was then Attorney General of 
Georgia and who has since been elected Governor. His 
address was a striking, patriotic and eloquent one and 
made a profound impression upon the audience. At 
one point in his speech the United States flag was car¬ 
ried up the aisle and placed on the rostrum. Its com¬ 
ing was like a clarion call to arms and aroused the 
speaker to the highest pitch of enthusiasm. He ex¬ 
horted the boys who were left behind to equal in con¬ 
secration the valor of the brave hoys who were across 
the sea, roaming the ocean paths, or making the su¬ 
preme sacrifice, that the world and our country might 
be freed forever from the curse of war. The speech 
ought to have been published entire, for it would have 
been an inspiration to the School for years. 

The closing address was made by me as acting Pres¬ 
ident, and the author of the bulletin says of it that: 
“The words fell not on the ears of listening graduates 
as in years passed, but on a hushed and respectful 
audience who were present to do honor to those young 
men whose names were called and whose degrees were 


506 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


laid aside to be mailed to addresses left when they quit 
the Tech for the training camp or the front.” 

My address was partly as follows: 

CLOSING ADDRESS BY EX¬ 
GOVERNOR HARRIS 

Young Men of the Graduating Class: 

I am to say only a few words to you today, for I 
am impressed with the fact that my audience is across 
the water, or doing duty in training camps where a 
young recruit learns to mark time and carry a gun. 

I had determined that the names of those who grad¬ 
uate should be called on this anniversary occasion as 
had been done at all the near thirty commencements 
that have occurred in the history of this school. It 
was something that I felt we owe to these boys. It 
is the custom of the Virginia Military Institute on 
Commencement Day to call the roll of its graduates 
and when the class that fought in 1864 at New Market 
is reached someone, as certain names are called for that 
year, cries out “dead on the field of battle.” I thought 
of this when the names of the graduating class of 1918 
were called. But the answer is not “dead on the field 
of battle.” It should be “very much alive on the field 
of battle, or in the camp preparing for battle.” It 
is on the same level of patriotism, for these boys, who 
could not stay to get their diplomas in this greatest 
crisis in their lives, testify by that act their devotion 
to their native land and their willingness to answer the 
call when her liberties are imperiled. 

And now to those of you who are present just a word 
or two. The motto of this school has been “To Know, 
to Do and to Be.” The new motto “Knowledge and 
Service” comprehends the whole field of activity. You 
are educated engineers; you have a kinship to a sol- 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


507 


dier, for before you reached your graduation day, you 
had already put on the uniform of your country, and 
in effect declared yourselves soldiers for her defense. 

* * * * 

Young gentlemen, I earnestly beg you not to forget 
the teachings of your boyhood, the words of your 
mother, your earlier home training, as you go out into 
the world. The army will soon clasp and hide you, 
but be sure to carry with you the sweeter and softer 
impulses of a pure humanity along with your determi¬ 
nation to be men and to fight to the last for the liber¬ 
ties of your country, and the honor of your flag. 

* * * * 

Never forget that you are Georgia Tech boys. 

The heart of the old State will go with you, and 
your professors, your instructors, and your old Chair¬ 
man will watch your career, to rejoice in your triumphs 
or sorrow for your defeats. 

God bless you all. Good-bye. 


The War Department seemed to set some store 
by the education conferred by the Georgia Tech. One 
of our graduates determined to apply for a position 
with the Engineers in order to go across to France. 
He obtained several letters of recommendation, includ¬ 
ing one from the Governor and one from each of the 
two Senators, and from a good many business men. 
He went to Washington and without anyone to intro¬ 
duce him entered the building in which the Department 
of Engineers was located. He came to the room where 
one of the Colonels in charge was sitting at his desk, 
and going up to him, after saluting, addressed him re¬ 
spectfully telling him of the purpose of his visit and 
asking him to look over his credentials. The Colonel 
took up the papers, gazed at them casually, read one or 
two of them and turning to the young man said: 



508 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


“Where were you educated, Sir?” He replied: “I 
graduated at the Georgia Tech.” When this was said 
the Colonel dashed the papers to the floor and ex¬ 
claimed: “Why didn’t you tell me that at first? The 
Tech goes here.” Then calling to his Secretary he 
said: “Write an order giving this young man a Lieu¬ 
tenancy in the Engineers.” 

The boy was a resident of Macon and his father 
was very proud of his success. He went in as a Lieu¬ 
tenant, crossed the ocean to France and came back as 
a Captain. He had done his duty to his Alma Mater 
as well as to the Nation that he served. 

COL. GARDNER OF THE 31ST DIVISION 

The story of Colonel Augustus P. Gardner from 
Massachusetts, who married a daughter of Senator 
Henry Cabott Lodge, is one of the saddest and most 
pathetic that came under my notice during the great 
War. 

Mr. Gardner was a Congressman from the- 

District of Massachusetts, and hvaing been taken with 
the war fever, conceived it to be his duty to join the 
army. 

When I went to El Paso I met him on the Interna¬ 
tional Bridge in company with a congressional com¬ 
mittee. He had just visited Jaurez opposite El Paso, 
and consulted with the Mexican authorities at that 
point, touching some of the matters with which the 
committee was concerned. I, myself, was on the 
bridge crossing over into Mexico when we met. Only 
ordinary greetings passed between us and both of us 
then came back to the American side. 

When he returned to Congress after a few months 
he resigned and applied for a commission in the United 
States Army. He was appointed Adjutant of the 3 1st 



AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


509 


Division and reported to the Division Commander at 
Macon, Georgia. He acted as Division Adjutant for 
some months in the camp. 

After Dr. Matheson’s return and the completion of 
my work at the Tech I came down to Macon and 
rented a suite of rooms in the house that I had built 
on Georgia Avenue, which had been sold and was held 
by a third party. My wife and I occupied the quar¬ 
ters for some time and I visited Camp Wheeler as often 
as possible to keep up with its condition. 

A terrible epidemic of “flu” had hit the camp and 
a large number of soldiers had died of pneumonia. 
Our surgeons seemed to be unable to control the dis¬ 
ease, and it grew worse and more fatal as the weather 
became colder and more severe on the boys in camp. 

One day I was sitting in one of the rooms up stairs 
that I had rented, when I heard some one coming up 
the staircase. In a short time there was a knock at 
the door and I went to open it. When I did so I saw 
an officer standing before me in full uniform with an 
eagle on his shoulder. I did not know him but he 
spoke at once, introducing himself as Colonel Gard¬ 
ner, the Adjutant of the 31st Division. He said he 
had seen from the papers that I was in town and he 
was anxious to meet and talk with me. 

I was almost overwhelmed by the unexpectedness of 
the visit. No one was in the house with me and I had 
been sitting alone thinking over the past and wonder¬ 
ing what the future had in store. 

The Colonel came in . and took a seat with me and 
we had a long talk. He mentioned then that he was 
dissatisfied with his position and wanted; to get a 
place in the line. I discouraged him in that, however, 
because I told him I was sure he could be of more ad¬ 
vantage to the country as the Adjutant of the Divi¬ 
sion than he could be in a line position. 


510 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


After discussing matters that affected our armies 
and our cause he left me. I never saw him again. A 
few weeks afterwards, however, I noticed in the papers 
that he had resigned as Division Adjutant and had 
been appointed to a Major’s position in the 121st In¬ 
fantry, which was our old Second Regiment in the 
Georgia National Guard and was largely made up of 
troops from Macon and adjacent counties. 

The regiment was practicing target shooting in a 
camp in Twiggs County some eight or ten miles be¬ 
yond the headquarters in Camp Wheeler and the offi¬ 
cers of the Regiment took turn about in superintend¬ 
ing the practice. It soon came around to Major 
Gardner’s time and he went out to the camp with the 
detachment from the Regiment. The weather turned 
cold and the facilities of the camp at the target grounds 
were undoubtedly not as good as those in the regu¬ 
lar camp. He contracted the “flu,” lingered for awhile 
when he came back to the encampment, went into 
pneumonia and died. 

Of all the noble, self-sacrificing examples that were 
given in the war, I put the case of Colonel Gardner, 
the Massachusetts Congressman, ahead of any other. 

His death was a terrible blow to me. I wrote for 
The Telegraph a notice of it, with a short description 
of his worth and his sacrifice. 

Someone sent the paper containing the notice to Sen¬ 
ator Lodge at Washington and he wrote me a beauti¬ 
ful letter thanking me for my kindness and telling me 
how his widowed daughter had appreciated my words. 

If he had lived, with the spirit that was in him, he 
would have gone rapidly toward the top, and I think 
the 31st Division would have received better treat¬ 
ment at the hands of the War Department. 

Colonel Gardner gave up his position as Congress¬ 
man to come to the army. He felt that there was a 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 511 

duty on Congress to show to the country that when it 
declared war it did not mean to hide itself behind its 
prerogatives and let others do the fighting, receive the 
wounds, and often die. It was his purpose to get on 
the firing line so as to set an example of patriotic well¬ 
doing for the Congress and the Nation. There were 
very few like him on the American Continent. 

OFFER OF FARMERS TO AID IN RACE 
FOR UNITED STATES SENATE 

About a year after my term as Governor was over 
I was standing with my wife in the railway terminal at 
Atlanta, waiting to take a train for Macon, when I 
was aproached by Colonel Charles S. Barrett, the 
President of the Farmers’ Union of the United States. 
He was a Georgian, born in Pike County, near Ma¬ 
con and had known me for many years. He came up 
to me and said: “Governor Harris, we want you to 
run for the United States Senate.” I replied: “Why, 
Charlie, there are already two men in the race, W. J. 
Harris and T. W. Hardwick. Won’t one of these 
suit you?” 

He replied: “No, we do not wish either one.” 

Then I said: “Charlie, you know if I were to come 
out for that position the people would say I was in 
my dotage.” 

He replied at once: “You know that’s a lie, but 
I say to you even if it were true we can put you over 
the top if you will only give us your name. We do not 
wish you to make any extensive campaign, only to de¬ 
liver a few speeches and we will do the rest. You 
carried all the cities and towns in your race for Gov¬ 
ernor, and we will give you the country if you enter 
the field.” “But,” I said, “Charlie, it will cost a con¬ 
siderable sum to make the race and I haven’t got the 


512 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


money.” He replied: “The money is already raised. 
Your friends will not have to pay one cent, we will 
take care of all that, and, Governor, if you will come 
into the race I will do for you what I would not do 
for any other living man on earth, I’ll come to At¬ 
lanta and take charge and manage your campaign for 
you, and there’s no power on earth that can beat you 
if you will consent to make the race.” 

My wife was standing by and heard all of this, and 
I turned to her and said: “What do you say, madam?” 

She replied at once: “I think you have had enough 
of trouble with politics and you ought to rest the 
balance of your days.” 

I turned to Col. Barrett and said: “Charlie, that’s 
my answer.” 

But he insisted and said he would not take the an¬ 
swer at that time. He begged me to wait a week or 
ten days, think over the matter and then make up my 
mind. I still replied: “No, the madam has made my 
answer and I must decline your offer, which is cer¬ 
tainly very greatly appreciated by me.” 

Inside the week I met some of the members of Mr. 
Wilson’s cabinet. One of them said: “Governor, we 
understand that the farmers of Georgia have asked 
you to run for the United States Senate.” I replied: 
“Yes, Sir, you are right.” Then it was said to me: 
“If you will do so, Governor, if you will make the 
race, we will see that Mr. Wilson does not take any 
hand against you. W. J. Harris and you are both 
his friends and his hands will be off, but some of his 
Cabinet will not hesitate to do what they can for you 
in the contest.” 

This offer by Mr. Barrett, I afterwards ascertained, 
was made with Mr. Watson’s consent, with whom his 
friends had conferred in McDuffie. If I had entered 
the race under these circumstances it seems to me now 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


513 


there was no power in the State to prevent my election. 
The offer that was made to me by Col. Barrett stopped 
all thoughts that I had entertained up to that time, 
of leaving Georgia. To my mind, coming as the prop¬ 
osition did, it was almost equivalent to an election. 

When I saw W. J. Harris afterwards and mentioned 
the proposition that had been made to me he expressed 
his surprise and said: “I am glad you did not take up 
with the offer, for it would have caused both of us 
to be defeated if you had come into the race.” 

I answered: “No, my dear friend, it would have 
brought about my election and your defeat and that of 
your opponent, Mr. Hardwick, as certain as the sun 
got up this morning.” 

There comes over me at times something like a re¬ 
gret that I did not accept the proposition and come 
into the race. My strength might have been sufficient 
to make the campaign and afterwards discharge' the 
duties of the office if I had been elected. 

Colonel Barrett’s word as the head of the great 
farmers’ organization would have carried power and 
influence to every county and district in the State. He 
was living at that time in Florida during the winter, as 
I have been doing ever since. Many times he has been 
offered positions by the government at Washington and 
elsewhere but has steadily refused to go into political 
life. I shall never cease to thank him for the offer he 
made and the exceptionally kind words that accom¬ 
panied it. 

A VISIT TO MRS, CORRA HARRIS AND 
REMINISCENCES 

Living on Fine Log, about four miles from the home¬ 
stead that was occupied by my mother and her family 
after my father’s death, is a lady who has become 
celebrated as a writer throughout the whole country. 


514 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


Her name is Mrs. Corra Harris. I call her cousin but 
her husband, I suppose, was in fact not related to me. 

When I was beginning my professional life in Macon 
I spent some time looking after what was then called 
the Southern Christian Advocate. It was published 
by my father-in-law, Rev. John W. Burke, who owned 
a large printing house and book store in Macon. I 
corrected the proofs for the paper and in doing so 
came in contact with Rev. Lundy Harris, who was then 
engaged in teaching in Emory College, located at Ox¬ 
ford, Georgia. 

The President of Emory College, Dr. Atticus G. 
Haygood, afterwards Bishop, was the editor of the 
paper and Mr. Harris came down at regular intervals 
to look after the editorials and the general make-up 
of the paper for Dr. Haygood. Here we met. 

He afterwards married Miss Corra May White, 
who survived him and is living in a little home in Bar¬ 
tow County near the old Pine Log settlement. When 
I first met her she had become a very celebrated au¬ 
thoress, writing a number of novels that have achieved 
a decided success in the literary world. She is also 
the author of other works that exhibit a wonderful 
genius, placing her among the first in the South. 

I met her by accident one day at the Georgian Ter¬ 
race in Atlanta, and after some conversation she invited 
me to visit her home. I told her I would be delighted to 
do so if I could be allowed to go to the old place where 
I lived with my mother in the first years after the 
war. She assured me I should do-so and she arranged 
to meet me in Cartersville, as she had business there 
from time to time, and fixed the day when I should 
come. 

I went up accordingly and she met me with her 
chauffeur and automobile. In going to her home she 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


515 


turned out a short distance from the main road and 
carried me to the homestead, where my mother and 
the children had lived. It was the first time I had seen 
it since the Fall of 1868 and I could not put on paper 
if I were to try the feelings that crowded upon me, 
when I looked on the old white house, where we found 
a refuge after the death of my father near Kingston, 
Georgia. 

My mother who was with us then has long since 
gone to her rest. The children died one after the 
other with consumption, and only my oldest brother 
and I, with one widowed sister, remain of the twelve. 

There was nothing that seemed familiar to me except 
the well in the side yard. The trees had changed— 
the fences had been torn down and moved to other lo¬ 
cations. The splendid grove that stood in front of 
the house had been largely thinned and cut out and 
the landscape was changed beyond recognition. 

The fifty-five years that had passed had obliterated 
the land marks that I would have recognized. Yet 
the house seemed natural, when I went inside of it, 
and the rooms were just as I remembered them. It 
gave me the heart-ache and I went on to the home of 
my friend. 

Her house occupies an elevated position, in fact is 
on the top of a ridge overlooking a large stream that 
runs toward the south. It is an ideal place for a 
poet’s residence. It is located near the place where her 
husband died. Mrs. Harris showed me her study and 
the chair in which she sat to write her stories and 
other contributions to literature. It stands in the yard, 
some distance from the main house. 

Sitting in front of her chair was an easel upholding 
a picture of a deceased daughter. She had died some¬ 
time before but the mother kept her face where she 
could look on it as she wrote her wonderful produc¬ 
tions. 


516 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


While she talked to me she would grow eloquent at 
times and smiles would play upon her face, then she 
would drop into a cynical mood without warning and 
her face take on a hard and stony look. I recognized 
her genius at once and rejoiced that I had become ac¬ 
quainted with her before I died. 

She writes at regular intervals and every word she 
publishes adds something to the fame of Georgia as 
well as of the authoress, who sends them out to the 
world. 

I took dinner with her and in the afternoon she car¬ 
ried me back to Cartersville, some twelve miles dis¬ 
tant, where I boarded the train for Atlanta, rejoicing, 
on the way that I had seen one person of my name 
who by her genius, her untiring energy and splendid 
diction, had made a fame for herself that had gone to 
the utmost limits of the nation. 

A FAMILY SKETCH—THE THREE COUSINS 

Some time before the great Civil War three boys 
were born in East Tennessee, two in Carter County 
named Taylor, and one in Washington County named 
Harris. They were sisters’ children and there was a 
strong link between them all. The father of the Tay¬ 
lor boys was a minister of the Methodist church, the 
father of the Harris boys was also a minister of the 
same church. 

The Harris boy was older than the other two. 
There were three years and more between him and the 
oldest Taylor boy. They all lived in the country and 
the Harris boy often felt that there was a likeness 
in their ideas and a sameness in their ambitions. All 
three tried to make speakers of themselves, because 
they had been taught from their childhood that there 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


517 


was nothing in the world worth as much as the ability 
to make an eloquent speech. 

Nat. G. Taylor, the father of the two Taylor boys, 
was a celebrated orator and an ambitious politician in 
East Tennesssee. He went to Congress twice and also 
became a member of President Johnson’s administra¬ 
tion, having been appointed Indian Commissioner by 
him. Dr. Alexander N. Harris was a strong speaker 
with a lurking ambition at times to take part in poli¬ 
tics. 

The boys met and conferred together and promised 
each other what most boys would promise, who were 
close of kin and hoped to do something in life. The 
youngest Taylor boy finally took the lead of all. He 
ran for Congress at a time when his district had a 
majority against his party of more than six thousand 
votes. He was elected and served his term. In the 
second race he was beaten, but a Democratic admin¬ 
istration being in power at the time he was given the 
office of Pension Commissioner in Knoxville. After 
this he ran for Governor of Tennessee and was elected, 
serving three different terms as Governor and then ran 
for United States Senator against E. W. Carmack and 
was elected. He died in office. 

The other Taylor boy went to Congress several 
times from his district and was finally elected Governor 
of Tennessee and served one term. 

The Harris boy having served in the Confederate 
Army was driven out of Tennessee at the end of the 
Civil War, went to Georgia and engaged in business 
in that state, having graduated with first honors at the 
University of Georgia at Athens. He served in the 
Legislature as Representative and Senator—became 
Judge of the Circuit in which he resided, and was 
elected Governor of the State of Georgia, serving one 
term. 


518 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


While Harris was serving as Governor one of the 
friends of his youth, Dr. Eugene E. Hunter, died. Al¬ 
fred Taylor was present at his funeral and so was 
Mr. Harris. They met in the yard and Mr. Taylor 
came up and said to Mr. Harris: “Now since you 
have been elected Governor of Georgia I think I may 
admit that I was named after your father.” 

Mr. Harris had known it always, but had not known 
till then that Mr. Taylor had not admitted it. 

When Mr. Taylor was elected Governor of Ten¬ 
nessee Mr. Harris wrote him the following note: 

“Now since you have been elected Governor of 
Tennessee I think I may admit that I was named after 
your father.” 

These three cousins were never mentioned together, 
yet there had always been the closest intimacy possible 
between the boys. When Robert entered the race 
for Congress the first time he had no money of his 
own to bear his expenses and no friends from whom he 
could borrow. His Georgia kinsman sent him a con¬ 
tribution to enable him to get to his appointments and 
then wrote to his brother, David Harris, asking him 
to go to the first appointment and see if his cousin, 
Bob, had any chance of being elected. Robert’s oppo¬ 
nent was a Mr. Pettibone, the former District Attor¬ 
ney, and the first meeting occurred at Bristol, in Sulli¬ 
van County. At that meeting occurred the episode 
which made Taylor famous throughout the whole coun¬ 
try. 

Mr. Pettibone did not notice him in the opening of 
his speech. As he concluded, however, he asked the 
question: “And whom have the Democrats nominated 
against me in this race? A young hoy whose fame had 
not gone beyond his own militia district, who had never 
made a public speech except, perhaps, at some school 
exhibition, and his only acquirement has been the 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


519 


skill to play a fiddle at some shake-down on Saturday 
night.” 

With this he closed. 

Robert came forward, awkward looking, his body 
bending two or three times into a knot, carrying in 
one hand a carpet bag and in the other holding a 
fiddle. He laid these carefully down on the stand, and 
then stepping back commenced his address: 

“Yes, fellow citizens,” he said, “we do love music 
in this country. We can not help it. We hear it in 
the rush of our mountain streams, in the rustle of the 
leaves on the trees, in the songs of the birds, in the 
winds that sweep through our mountains. All alike, 
purling brook and rustling leaves and sighing winds, 
making one great musical diapason, rising on the air 
until it approaches the throne of the Eternal above 
us.” 

Then he painted the carpet-bagger, the man who had 
come to our country to make a living off of its miseries, 
to gather riches from its sufferings, in order to carry 
them out to some far away state to enjoy. 

“Fellow citizens, take your choice,” he said. “It 
is the fiddle or the carpet-bag.” • 

Mr. Pettibone was from Michigan. 

The brother wrote the Georgia boy that Robert had 
laid' out his opponent completely, that the old men 
and the young men who stood around the stand shed 
tears as they clapped their hands and heard the won¬ 
derful speech that the Democratic champion had 
made. 

The Georgia boy concluded that the money he sent 
to his kinsman was well placed. 

Some time it may be shown that it was well these 
three boys separated. There was not room enough in 
Tennessee for the realization of their personal am¬ 
bitions. They would have been in each other’s way. 


520 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY 


When Governor Bob Taylor ran for election the 
third time his opponent was James A. Harris, of 
Jonesboro, a first cousin of mine. Harris had been 
Comptroller of Tennessee for several years and had 
made quite a reputation for himself. 

Taylor beat him badly in the race. It was a first 
cousin against a first cousin for me. 

These three boys in their earlier days were accus¬ 
tomed to pattern after their mother’s brother, Lan- 
don C. Haynes, in trying to make speakers out of 
themselves. They learned by heart some of his finest 
productions, and even in after years would often quote 
the speech delivered by Haynes at a great bar meet¬ 
ing in Mississippi following the Civil War. 

As has already been stated in these reminiscences, 
Colonel Haynes was Confederate States Senator dur¬ 
ing the Civil War. He moved to Memphis after the 
war, as his surroundings, as well as those of other 
Southerners, were not pleasant in East Tennessee. He 
became a candidate for Congress in the Memphis Dis¬ 
trict, but was defeated. Afterwards, when the Demo¬ 
cratic ascendancy was established in Tennessee, he as¬ 
pired to fill the position of Senator in the United States 
Congress. The Legislature elected the Senator at that 
time, about 1875, and a canvass was made in his be¬ 
half. Almost everything had changed in Tennessee 
and it was developed following the canvass that at 
least two-thirds of the Legislature had pledged them¬ 
selves to elect Haynes to the position. 

About this time President Johnson determined to 
become a candidate for the Senate “in order to pay 
back,” as he was accustomed to say, the harsh treat¬ 
ment he had received at the hands of General Grant, 
who was then in office. 

The story goes as follows: 

Mr. Johnson approached Mr. Haynes and said: 


APPENDIX 


521 


“Colonel Haynes, I came to your help when you need¬ 
ed it worse than you will ever need anything again. I 
gave you a pardon restoring you to your citizenship. I 
wish the position of Senator, and I ask you to retire 
from the race in my favor.” 

Ingratitude was never a fault of Landon C. Haynes. 
He told Mr. Johnson that he could not resist such 
an appeal, retired from the race and asked his friends 
to support the ex-President. This was done, and Mr. 
Johnson was elected Senator. 

Mr. Haynes did not live long after this disappoint¬ 
ment. It was said in the family that his heart was 
broken by the sacrifice which he felt he was compelled 
to make in behalf of one who had rescued him from the 
doom that the people intended to bring upon him. 

Mr. Johnson’s service also was of short duration. 

THE END 

I have finished the task undertaken without thought 
and ended without gratification. 

Much of the work should never have been written. 
Much should have been stricken out and sent to the 
discard. It wearies me to try to read it over. It was 
a part of myself. As I wrote it my own life was run¬ 
ning into it, but now when it is finished I see how 
utterly uninteresting it will prove and how little good 
it can accomplish for others. It is too intensely per¬ 
sonal. 

I have tried to show the struggles of a young and 
friendless boy, thrown among strangers and making his 
own way in difficulties almost without parallel. 

If the story has any moral it may show to some am¬ 
bitious boy that the hardest obstacles may be con¬ 
quered and the roughest road may be compassed if 
there is patience and a good heart to sustain the 
struggle. 


522 


APPENDIX 


I have done in my after life what I could for the 
people that trusted me. I have tried to set a good 
example, reverencing worth in men and women and 
serving God. My life will soon be lost in the great 
sea of human existence, and if these memoirs, extend¬ 
ing through seventy-five years shall serve to arouse 
in the breast of anyone reading them a better hope, a 
nobler ambition or a purer motive for conduct and ac¬ 
complishment, I shall not have written in vain. 

WHAT NEXT? 

Life’s grim Tomorrow for the human heart, 

That all the Future’s burden holds; 

What glancing phantoms round us start, 

Ere yet the gathered gloom unfolds! 

Where seers have gone, with dreadless hands, 

To ring the changes on the text, 

The soul of man now shivering stands, 

Scarce daring once to ask—“What next?” 

Behold again, yon white-haired man— 

Who comes with Christian faith to die; 

Bowed low with age, and racked with pain, 

He hails the welcome summons nigh. 

Above him bends a seraph-host— 

With heavenly light each face indexed, 

And from a far off shinig coast 

Float down the words—“This, this is next!” 




APPENDIX 


523 


APPENDICES 


APPENDIX I 


VETERAN ASKS VOTERS TO VOTE 
FOR HARRIS 

Specimen of appeals by old comrade: 

“Lord of Hosts, be with us yet, 

Lest we forget—lest we forget.” 

Sons of Confederate veterans of Atlanta and Geor¬ 
gia, the gallant Greeks of Athens and Sparta and those 
scattered throughout the world have not forgotten the 
glorious deeds of their ancestors at Marathon, Ther¬ 
mopylae, Salamis and Platea, though centuries have 
passed away. Soldiers of the Confederacy, from the 
heights of Gettysburg, Fredericksburg, Chickamauga 
and Vicksburg a half century “looks down upon you,” 
and the heroes and the legends of a hundred battle¬ 
fields are recalled. One of “our boys in gray,” who 
handled a musket and followed “the plumes” of Lee 
and Jackson—asks from your hands the helmet of 
state, and “the weapons” of “Wisdom, Justice and 
Moderation.” His name is Nat Harris, of Macon and 
Georgia. The mothers of “Old Georgia” and the 
daughters of the Confederacy still hold in sacred lov¬ 
ing memory the veterans of the “C. S. A.” I am sure 
they will be with us August 19, and select “a Confed¬ 
erate veteran” as Governor of Georgia. “The writer” 
is the only surviving member of the medical staff head- 
Quarters, Lee’s Army. 

“Appomatox” —(Dr. Newton.) 




524 


APPENDIX 


A good friend’s estimate: 

THE NEW PENSION COMMISSIONER 

(From Atlanta Journal) 

By John T. Boifeuillet 

Governor Walker has signalized the closing months 
of his first term by appointing former Governor Na¬ 
thaniel E. Harris to the office of pension commissioner. 
The Governor has thus rendered an inestimable service 
to the Confederate veterans, benefited the State, and 
adorned the position with one of Georgia’s most emi¬ 
nent citizens—a Christian gentleman—an ardent pa¬ 
triot, who is a striking example of Southern manhood, 
Southern chivalry and Southern fidelity. 

In the bright constellation of gems and honors that 
adorn and enrich the brow of Nat Harris, whether as 
Legislator, Judge, Governor, forty years as trustee of 
educational institutions, wonderful orator or superb 
attorney, I believe there is not one that he values more 
highly than the pension commissionership, for he hopes 
this to be the crowning opportunity for him to render 
his climaxing service to the Confederate veterans and 
their dependents ere he crosses over the river to “rest 
under the shade of the trees.” With this lofty desire 
and noble expectation, the last hero of the Confeder¬ 
acy to hold the Governorship of Georgia has accepted 
the office of pension commissioner. 

Entered Army When a Youth 

Ere manhood had substituted its seal for boyhood 
on his brow, Nat Harris enlisted as a private in the 
cause of the Confederacy, shouldered a musket, and 
heroically marched forth to fight freedom’s battles, to 
defend the constitutional rights of the South, to main¬ 
tain state sovereignty, and to uphold the principles of 
popular liberty which lie at the foundation of home 
government. 


APPENDIX 


525 


In “the green days of his unripened manhood,” at 
the tender age of sixteen years, Nat Harris had joined 
the immortal Army of Northern Virginia, and was 
following the gleaming sword of the peerless Lee, 
which he had drawn in splendor and righteousness. 

For Private Harris, the path of duty was the way to 
glory. The sole issue with him was loyalty to his be¬ 
loved South. 

Nat Harris, in the perilous hours of that wonderful 
and holy struggle, exhibited dauntless courage on the 
battlefield and heroic fortitude in enduring the hard¬ 
ships, privations and sufferings of the camp. He bore 
himself with conspicuous bravery on the firing line. 
He stood firm and undaunted in every conflict and 
danger. His lion heart never flinched and his knightly 
soul never quivered amid the crash of Federal ar¬ 
tillery. 


When Appomattox Was Over 

After the curtain went down at Appomattox, Nat 
Harris was unfaltering in his devotion to the glorious 
memories of the Confederacy. His zeal for the wel¬ 
fare of the broken and maimed heroes of that san¬ 
guinary conflict has burned with a steady and unquench¬ 
able radiance. 

As commander of Camp Macon of the Confederate 
Veterans he was untiring in his labors in behalf of his 
old comrades in arms. He was quick to hear the voice 
of the suffering and alert to respond to the wants of the 
needy. 

As Legislator and Governor he worked and appealed 
for increased pensions for the men who wore the gray. 
In his inaugural message, June 26, 1915, he said: “The 
time is near at hand when it would be good policy to 
double the pensions paid to the Confederate soldiers. 
Age and infirmities increase the necessities of this class 


526 


APPENDIX 


of our citizens and render each one more dependent. 
These old heroes have earned the right to be supported 
by the State, and the resultant satisfaction on the part 
of the people with such expenditures is the proof that 
the patriotic sentiments of the fathers yet survive in 
the hearts of the sons.” 

Two Memorable Orations 
Nat Harris has been a wonderful orator in his day, 
and he yet retains much of the force and power of true 
eloquence. In his halcyon years he could successfully 
play on all the chords of human emotions. For every 
heart he had a tone. His voice still has many of those 
deep and musical cadences which fell upon the ears of 
his enraptured listeners “like waves on the shore of the 
far resounding sea.” 

One of his many matchless orations was a panegyric 
on General John B. Gordon, delivered in 1904, at 
Nashville, Tenn., at the general reunion of the Con¬ 
federate Veterans. It was a glowing eulogy in praise 
of the shining valor, chivalric daring and brilliant 
achievements of the “Man of the Twelfth of May.” 
The pages of Nat Harris’ eloquent address were il¬ 
lumined with the splendors of the exploits of this in¬ 
trepid commander. 

Another oration equally as notable as this one was 
Harris’ splendid exposition of the “Civil War, Its 
Causes and Results.” This was spoken in 1905, at the 
general reunion of the veterans held at Louisville, 
Ky. He expounded every phase- of the subject in a 
masterly and eloquent manner. It was an invaluable 
contribution to the history of the most transcendant 
drama in the history of the American nation. 

Author of Important Legislation 
There are many outstanding features in the public 
career of Nathaniel E. Harris, but in the limitations 
of this article I can refer to only a few of them. 


APPENDIX 


• 527 


The Georgia School of Technology is a shining and 
towering monument to his foresight, progressiveness 
and patriotism. Georgia’s present leadership in in¬ 
dustrial education is due to the wisdom, enterprise and 
perception of Legislator Harris, who instituted the leg¬ 
islation more than forty years ago which established 
the Tech. 

When Mr. Harris was representing Bibb County in 
the Legislature, in 1884, he was the very able chairman 
of the finance committee, and rendered most important 
service to Governor McDaniel in refunding the State 
debt. Nat Harris’ action marked an epoch in the fi¬ 
nancial history of Georgia. 

Due to the ardent and fearless advocacy of this 
Christian patriot as Governor, the prohibition law of 
1916, and the bone dry law of 1917, were enacted. 

There was no voice in Georgia that spoke more elo¬ 
quently, more potentially, more frequently and more 
consistently in favor of the re-leasing of the state rail¬ 
road than Governor Harris, and a lease act was passed 
at the extraordinary session in 1915 containing his rec¬ 
ommendations on the subject. The formal lease of 
the property was executed by Governor Harris on the 
part of the State of Georgia, after the whole question 
of re-leasing had been thoroughly investigated, con¬ 
sidered and deliberated over in all of its possible phases 
by an able commission, of which that splendid Geor¬ 
gian, Charles Murphey Candler, was the untiring and 
faithful chairman. Its report was submitted to the 
General Assembly. The other commissioners and 
signers of the report were N. E. Harris, G. Gunby 
Jordan, E. A. Copelan and St. Elmo Massengale. 
Mr. Massengale was named in the place of Hon. Jud- 
son L. Hand, deceased. Mr. Fuller E. Callaway was 
one of the originally appointed commissioners, but he 
declined the position on account of heavy pressure of 
business. 


528 * 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX II 

It is stated in these reminiscences that there were ten Sena¬ 
tors and ninety-seven Representatives of the Legislature of 
1915 who originated and engineered a successful revolution in 
political affairs looking to the adjournment of the Legislature, 
without passing the legislation and making the appropriations 
necessary to carry on the Government. 

The suggestion of such a course was probably due to Colonel 
Thomas B. Felder, whose efforts to bring about prohibition in 
Georgia were surpassed by no one living in the State at the 
time. The movement in the Senate was led by Dr. A. S. J. 
Stovall of Elberton, representing the 30th District. The move¬ 
ment in that body did not command a majority. In the House 
ninety-seven members united to secure the desired end. 

Regular meetings occurred mostly in the breakfast room of 
the Ansley Hotel and the members were held in line by earnest 
appeals, fervent addresses, and. invincible arguments in behalf 
of the cause to which these men were devoting themselves. 

I have said frequently, in addresses to the Legislature and to 
the country outside, that these men—the ninety-seven Repre¬ 
sentatives and the ten Senators—deserved to have their names 
cut on marble tablets to be placed on the corners of the Capi¬ 
tol, so that their memories might be kept bright for ever. 

I opposed the movement with all the earnestness that I could 
bring to bear upon it, as my message quoted in the reminiscences 
will show; but the time had come for a change in Georgia con¬ 
cerning the sale of liquor and it. was determined to destroy 
the traffic at all hazards. The Governor in office was held re¬ 
sponsible for the reform, and his defeat, followed, as is usual. 

It may be interesting hereafter to read the names of these 
men. The Atlanta Chamber of Commerce published a list of 
the members of both Houses before their meeting, giving a 
short history of each man’s life as far as could be obtained at 
that time. 

I have taken the liberty to append the names of the ten Sen¬ 
ators and of the ninety-seven Representatives with the sketch 
given to each as they appeared in the catalog aforesaid. 

It will be seen that, when the vote was taken, as shown on 
the Journal of the House, pages 1255-56, ninety-eight members 
voted in the affirmative. The immortal ninety-seven, therefore, 
gained one member before the final test came. 

An effort was made previous to publishing this list, to secure 
additional facts concerning many of these men, but with very 
small result: 


APPENDIX 


529 


SENATORS 


Twelfth District 

C. C. TRACY (P. O. Preston) 
Born in Walker County, Ga., 
December 20, 1845; educated 
in the common schools; farm¬ 
er; has been Commissioner of 
Roads and Revenues of Web¬ 
ster County; has been Justice 
of the Peace; Baptist; has serv¬ 
ed in previous legislatures. 

Eighteenth District 

W. J. WREN, (P. O. Wrens) 
Born in Jefferson County, 
Ga., October 22, 1858; educated 
in the common schools of his 
county; farmer, merchant and 
mill man; has been member 
of Commission of Roads and 
Revenues; chairman of County 
Board of Education for 25 
years. 

Twenty-fifth District 
WILLIAM TERRELL HAR¬ 
RISON, (P. O. Yatesville) 
Born at Musella, Ga., Mar. 
6, 1887; educated at Young 
Harris College and University 
of Chicago; teacher; president 
J. E. Johnston Institute; Meth¬ 
odist. 

Twenty-seventh District 

W. J. EAKES (P. O. Conyers) 
Born Forsyth County, Ga., 
April 9, 1869; educated in com¬ 
mon schools of Cumming, Ga.; 
cotton and fire insurance; was 
cashier of Bank of Rockdale 
14 years; has served as State 
Bank Examiner; Chairman of 
Board of Commissioners of 
Rockdale County. 


Thirtieth District 
A. S. J. STOVALL 
(P. O. Elberton) 

Born in Elbert County, Sep¬ 
tember 25, 1861; educated in 
the common schools, at the 
University of Georgia at Ath¬ 
ens, at the medical department 
of the state university at Au¬ 
gusta and at the Polyclinic, 
New York; physician and farm¬ 
er; president of Elbert County 
Medical society, vice councilor 
of the Medical Association of 
Georgia; member of State 
Democratic Executive Com¬ 
mittee; has served in previous 
legislatures. Co-author of the 
Prohibition Legislation. 

Thirty-first District 

THOMAS B. BONNER 
(P. O. Lavonia) 

Born near Gaffney, S. C., 
March 24, 1862; educated at 
Furman University, Greenville, 
S. C.; physician; has been may¬ 
or of Hartwell; has been may¬ 
or of Lavonia; director of the 
Bank of Lavonia; Grand 
Guardian Odd Fellows; Wor¬ 
shipful Master Lavonia Lodge 
A. F. M.; president Tugaloo 
Sunday school convention. 

Thirty-seventh District 
E. T. MOON 
(P. O. LaGrange) 

Born Walton County, Ga., 
November 14, 1867; educated 
at Logansville, Walton Coun¬ 
ty, LaGrange public schools and 
University of Georgia; lawyer; 
was census supervisor in 1910 



530 


APPENDIX 


for the Fourth Congressional 
District; was a member of the 
last legislature. 

Thirty-eighth District 

J. J. MANGHAM 
(P. O. Bremen) 

Born in Upson County, Ga., 
July 6, 1878; educated in the 
common schools of Upson 
County; banker, farmer, cotton 
business and fruit grower; has 
been cashier Bank of Bremen 
12 years; now vice president of 
the same bank; treasurer coun¬ 
ty board of education; mayor 
of Bremen. 

Forty-second District 

W. M. RANSOM 
P. O. Menlo) 

Born in LaFayette, Ga., Jan¬ 
uary 7, 1869; educated at Em¬ 
ory College and at Yellow 
Stone, Ala.; teacher; superin¬ 
tendent of Menlo schools; 
Methodist; has served in a 
previous legislature. 

Forty-fourth District 

j. r. McFarland 

(P. O. Rossville) 

Born in Walker County, 
Ga., in 1856; educated in the 
common schools; real estate 
broker. 

REPRESENTATIVES 
Appling County 

J. W. JOHNSON 
(P. O. Baxley) 

Bacon County 

J. H. CARTER (P. O. Alma) 

Baker County 

W. J. KIDD (P. O. Milford) 
Born at Milford, Ga., No¬ 
vember 30, 1874; merchant, 

farmer and saw mill man; has 
been chairman of Board of 


Education; has served in prev¬ 
ious legislatures. 

Bartow County 

WARREN A. DODD 
(P. O. Cartersville) 

Born at Kingston, Ga., Sep¬ 
tember 1, 1858; educated in 

the public schools of Bartow 
County and at the North Geor¬ 
gia Agricultural and Mechani¬ 
cal College; farmer; member 
of Board of Education; presi¬ 
dent of the Bank of Taylors¬ 
ville; Baptist; Mason. 

Ben Hill County 

WESLEY R. WALKER 

(P. O. Fitzgerald) 

Born in Dublin, Ga., March 
14. 1874; educated in rural 

schools and high school at Ab¬ 
beville, Ga.; planter; is chair¬ 
man of the Commission of 
Roads and Revenues of his 
county; is a Mason; has al¬ 
ways taken active interest in 
advancing the schools of 
Fitzgerald and Ben Hill Coun¬ 
ty. 

Bibb County 

THOMAS R. AYER 
(P. O. Macon) 

Born in Barnwell County, 
S. C; farmer. 

H. L. BARFIELD 
(P. O. Macon) 

Born in Crawford County, 
Ga.. March 27, 1869; educated 
in Bibb County public schools 
and at Mercer University; 
wholesale grocer; is much in¬ 
terested in improved land title 
law. 

Bleckley County 

T. D. WALKER, Sr. 

(P. O. Cochran) 


APPENDIX 


531 


Brooks County 

A. J. HODGES 

(P. O. Morven) 

Bulloch County 

FRED T. LANIER 
( P. O. Statesboro) 

Born Statesboro, Ga., August 
6, 1877; educated University 
of Georgia; lawyer; Solicitor 
of City Court of Statesboro 
for eight years. 

Bulloch County 

J. W. WRIGHT 

(P. O. Ivanhoe) 

Born in Bulloch County in 
1850; farmer, has been Justice 
of the Peace for seven years. 

Burke County 

E. V. HEATH 
(P. O. Waynesboro) 

Born at Girard, Ga., Febru¬ 
ary 9, 1889; educated at Emory 
College and the University of 
Georgia; lawyer; is a Mason 
and an Elk; has served in a 
previous legislature. 

Butts County 

C. A. TOWLES (P. O. Cork) 
Born at Cork, Ga., March 9, 
1865; farmer. 

Camden County 

A. J. LILES 
(P. O. White Oak) 

Born Wayne County, Ga., 
December 22, 1849; educated in 
the county schools; farmer; 
member of county board of 
education fourteen years. 

Carroll County 

I. H. P. BECK 

(P. O. Bowden) 

Born in Heard County, Ga., 
February 17, 1862; educated in 


the public schools; dealer in 
fertilizers and cotton; taught 
school for 23 years; has served 
in a previous legislature. 

Carroll County 

L. Z. DORSETT 
(P. O. Carrollton) 

Born in Douglas County, 
April 22, 1864; educated in 
common schools of Douglas 
County and at Bowdon Col¬ 
lege in Carroll County; lawyer; 
has been city attorney, record¬ 
er and mayor of Douglasville; 
Baptist. 

Charlton County 

T. L. PICKREN 

(P. O. Folkston) 

Born in Coffee County, edu¬ 
cated in the common schools 
of the county and the Hawk- 
insville High School; farmer, 
merchant and manufacturer; 
has been mayor of Folkston; 
has been judge of county court 
of Charlton County; is presi¬ 
dent of the County Board of 
Education. 

Chattahoochee County 

G. G. GORDY (P. O. Cusseta) 

Chattooga County 
T. J. WORSHAM 

(P. O. Holland) 

Born Crawford County, Ga., 
March 1, 1847; educated in the 
public schools; farmer; has 
been sheriff and Justice of the 
Peace in his county. 

Cherokee County 

J. N. SIMPSON 
(P. O. Holly Springs) 
Born Edgefield County, S. 
C., November 16, 1846; edu¬ 
cated in the common schools 
of Cherokee County; farmer; 
has been justice of the peace 


532 


APPENDIX 


and tax collector in his coun¬ 
ty; has served in previous leg¬ 
islatures. 

Clay County 

ZACH ARNOLD 

(P. O. Fort Gaines) 

Born in Henry County, Ga., 
Jan. 5, 1889; educated at Gor¬ 
don institute, Young Harris col¬ 
lege and Atlanta Law School; 
lawyer; was captain Company 
M, Fifth Infantry, National 
Guard of Georgia; Methodist. 

Clayton County 

R. W. C. GREEN 

(P. O. Forest Park) 

Born in Clayton County, 
Ga., February 11, 1851; edu¬ 
cated in the common schools 
and medical school of Atlanta; 
physician and farmer; Mason, 
Odd Fellow; Red Man and 
member of the Junior Order. 

Clinch County 

R. G. DICKERSON 

(P. O. Homerville) 

Born in Clinch County, Oc¬ 
tober 27, 1870; educated in 
public schools of Clinch Coun¬ 
ty and at the Florida Normal 
School; lawyer, banker, stock 
and naval stores; president of 
the Bank of Homerville; has 
served as treasurer and solici¬ 
tor of the county court of his 
county; was delegate to Dem¬ 
ocratic National Convention in 
St. Louis in 1904, and also to 
National Convention at Balti¬ 
more in 1912; has served in 
previous legislatures. 

Colquitt County 

ROBERT L. SHIPP 

(P. O. Moultrie) 

Born in Chattahoochee coun¬ 


ty, August 12, 1872; educated 
in the public schools of Cus- 
seta and Americus and at the 
Alabama Polytechnic College 
at Auburn, Ala.; lawyer and 
farmer; has been mayor of 
Moultrie; has been judge of the 
City Court of Moultrie; has 
served in previous legisla¬ 
tures. 

Columbia County 

I. V. BALLARD 
(P. O. Harlem) 

Coweta County 

GARLAND M. JONES 
(P. O. Newnan) 

Born at Abingdon, Virginia, 
June 14, 1873; educated at Em¬ 
ory and Henry College, Wash¬ 
ington and Lee University and 
the University of Mississippi; 
lawyer; director of the New¬ 
man Banking Co.; Methodist; 

has served in a previous leg¬ 

islature. 

Coweta County 

J. T. KIRBY 
(P. O. Newnan) 

Born at Newnan, March 3, 
1856; educated at Newnan 
schools, the University of 
Georgia and in Baltimore, 
Maryland; is farmer, merchant 
and banker; has been member 
Newnan city council; has been 
chairman of Board of Coweta 
County Commissioners; has 
served in previous legislatures. 

Crisp County 

W. H. DORRIS 
(P. O. Cordele) 

Dade County 
M. G. SMITH 
(P. O. Trenton) 

Born in DeKalb County, 


APPENDIX 


533 


Ala., March 27, 1889; educated 
at Springville, Ala., and Knox¬ 
ville, Tenn.; lawyer; has been 
clerk of Dade County Superior 
court. 

Dawson County 

J. B. MATTHEWS 
(P. O. Dawsonville) 

Born in Dawson County, 
April 7, 868; educated in Daw¬ 
son County schools; farmer 
and merchant; Methodist; Ma¬ 
son. 

Decatur County 

A. B. CONGER 
(P. O. Bainbridge) 

Born Ty Ty, Ga., July 14, 
1886; educated Mercer Univer¬ 
sity; lawyer; was president of 
his class at college; secretary 
county board of education. 

DeKalb County 

R. FRANK SMITH 

(P. O. Decatur) 

Born DeKalb County, in 
1873; educated at Perry-Rainey 
College, Auburn, Ga., and at 
State Normal School at Ath¬ 
ens; farmer; was teacher for 
several years and for five years 
was connected with the State 
Department of Agriculture; is 
a member of the Farmers’ 
Union; has served in a prev¬ 
ious legislature. 

L. J. STEELE 

(P. O. Deqatur), 

Dodge County 

J. L, CRAVEY 

(P. O. Eastman) 

Douglas County 
W. I. DORRIS 
(P. O. Douglasville) 

Born in. Douglas County, 
December 16, 1867; farmer. 


merchant, saw mill and cotton 
gin man; is a Mason, a Knight 
of Pythias, an Odd Fellow and 
a Methodist; has served in a 
previous legislature; is a direc¬ 
tor of the Douglasville Bank¬ 
ing Co. 

Effingham County 
J. W. REISER 
(P. O. Clyo, R. F. D. 2) 
Born Springfield, Ga., May 
30, 1855; educated in Effing¬ 
ham Academy; has been mem¬ 
ber of county board of edu¬ 
cation, of Commission of Roads 
and Revenues and chairman 
of county Democratic Com¬ 
mittee; farmer and saw mill 
man; is chairman of German 
Lutheran congregations of Ef¬ 
fingham County; is lineal de¬ 
scendant of Salzburgers who 
settled at Ebenezer, Ga., in 
1734. 

Elbert County 

W. J. MATHEWS 
(P. O. Elberton) 

Born in Pike County, Ga., 
January 9, 1868; educated in 
high schools of Pike County 
and the Atlanta Medical Col¬ 
lege; physician; has been mem¬ 
ber of Elberton city council: 
has been county physician of 
Elbert County Medical Society: 
president Medical Society of 
Eighth Congressional District, 

Elbert County 

T. M. McLANAHAM 
(Pi O. Elberton) 

( . E C ’ 

o ‘ Emanuel County . 

W. M. ATKINSON 
; - (P. O. Stillmore) ? 


534 


APPENDIX 


Fayette County 

CHARLES DAVENPORT 
REDWINE 
(P. O. Fayetteville) 

Born in Fayette County, 
September 10, 1885; educated 
in county schools and Fayette¬ 
ville High School; is farmer, 
manufacturer and cashier of 
Farmers and Merchants Bank 
of Fayetteville; has been may¬ 
or of Fayetteville; has served 
in previous legislatures. 

Forsyth County 
W. P. SLOAN 
(P. O. Cumming) 

Gilmer County 

ALBERT H. BURTZ 
(P. O. Ellijay) 

Born in Cobb County, Ga., 
October 6, 1879; educated at 
Reinhardt College and the 
University of Georgia; lawyer; 
has been alderman and mayor 
of Ellijay; is an Odd Fellow 
and Red Man; has served in 
previous legislature. 

Glascock County 
W. D. ALLEN 
(P. O. Mitchell) 

Born in Glascock County, 
March 31, 1862; farmer; has 
been a member of Board of 
Education of his county; is 
a Methodist and an Odd Fel¬ 
low; member of Farmers’ Un¬ 
ion. 

Grady County 

W. D. BARBER 
(P. O. Cairo) 

Born near Camilla, Ga., 
April 10, 1863; educated Cairo 
public schools; farmer and 
dealer in live stock; was a 


member of Farmers’ Alliance; 
member of Farmers’ Union; 
Mason, Knight of Pythias and 
Odd Fellow. 

Greene County 
C. C. KING 
(P. O. White Plains) 
Born Habersham County, 
Ga., October 2, 1861; educated 
in North Georgia Agricultural 
College at Dahlonega and at 
the Atlanta Medical College; 
physician and druggist; mem¬ 
ber of Board of Education of 
Dawson Institute; vice presi¬ 
dent of Bank of White Plains. 

Gwinnett County 

A. A. JOHNSON 

(P. O. Norcross) 

Born Yellow River, Ga., 
March 18, 1858; educated in 
common schools; merchant and 
banker; has been mayor of 
Norcross; president of the 
Bank of Norcross. 

Habersham County 

VANCE PERKINS 

(P. O. Mt. Airy) 

Born at Mt. Airy in 1876; 
educated at Mt. Airy; farmer 
and banker. 

Hall County 

RICHARD MARTIN 
(P. O. Lula) 

Born in Hall County, Jan¬ 
uary 2, 1842; educated in Hall 
County; merchant and real es¬ 
tate dealer; president Enon 
Association Sunday School 
Convention eight years; mod¬ 
erator Enon Asociation. 

Haralson County 

J. S. EDWARDS 

(P. O. Buchanan) 

Born in Paulding County, 


APPENDIX 


535 


Ga., February 13, 1867; edu¬ 
cated at Buchanan, Georgia, 
and Harrisonburg, Va.; lawyer 
and minister of the Gospel; 
has been mayor of Buchanan 
three times. 

Harris County 

C. I. HUDSON 

(P. O. Cataula) 

Heard County 

O. A. MOORE 
(P. O. Texas) 

Houston County 

S. A. NUNN (P. O. Perry) 
Born at Perry Ga., Septem¬ 
ber 30, 1888; educated at the 
Perry High School and at the 
Atlanta Law School; lawyer; 
president of South Georgia 
Conference Epworth League. 

Jasper County 

WILLIAM H. KEY 
(P. O. Gladesville) 

Born at Monticello, Ga.; ed¬ 
ucated at normal school and 
the University of Georgia; 
lawyer; formerly a teacher; 
has been mayor of town of 
Graham. 

Jeff Davis County 

HENRY G. MOORE 
(P. O. Hazlehurst) 

Born in Fannin County, 
Ga., June 1, 1867; educated in 
public schools of Fannin coun¬ 
ty and high school of Morgan¬ 
town, Ga.; farmer and insur¬ 
ance agent; Methodist; Mason; 
member of Hazlehurst Board 
of Education; has served in a 
previous legislature. 

Jefferson County 

JAMES KING (P. O. Wrens) 
Born in Jefferson County, 
February 11, 1869; educated at 


Statenville and Louisville, Ga.; 
merchant and farmer; Baptist. 

Jenkins County 

A. S. ANDERSON 
(P. O. Millen) 

Born in Screven County, 
Ga., April 21, 1889; educated 
in the common schools and at 
Mercer University; lawyer; 
has been recorder of Sylvania; 
Justice of the Peace; judge of 
county court of Jenkins Coun¬ 
ty; judge of city court of Mil¬ 
len; postmaster of Miller; 
president of Georgia Presiden¬ 
tial Postmasters Association; 
editor Millen News; Methodist. 

Laurens County 

W. B. COLEMAN 
(P. O. Dexter) 

Farmer; has served as jus¬ 
tice of the peace; has served 
in a previous legislature. 
GEORGE B. DAVIS 
(P. O. Dublin) 

Born Montgomery County, 
March 19, 1881; educated in 
the common schols and at 
Mercer University; lawyer; 
served four years as Solicitor 
of City Court of Dublin. 

Lee County 

W. H. LUNSFORD 
(P. O. Smithville) 

Born Marion County, Ga., 
April 2, 1857; educated country 
schools of Webster county; 
merchant; member of Board 
of Education of Lee County. 

Macon County 

B. B. BROOKS 
(P. O. Montezuma) 

Born Macon County, Au¬ 
gust 1, 1872; educated in the 
common schools of the county; 
dentist. 


536 


APPENDIX 


Madison County 
J. N. B. THOMPSON 
(P. O. Colbert) 

Born in Madison County, 
Ga., November 3, 1861; edu¬ 
cated in the common schools 
of his county; farmer; has 
served as a member and pres¬ 
ident of his County Board of 
Education; has been member 
of Farmers Alliance and Farm¬ 
ers’ Union; has served in a 
previous legislature. 

Marion County 
J. P. HOGG 
(P. O. Buena Vista) 

McDuffie County 

J. GLENN STOVALL 
(P. O. Thomson) 
Lawyer; Mason; Baptist; has 
served in a previous legisla¬ 
ture. 

Meriwether County 
N. F. CULPEPPER 
(P. O. Greenville) 

Born in Meriwether County, 
September 16,1867; educated at 
Emory College; lawyer and 
farmer; has been solicitor of 
city court of Greenville; has 
been member of County Board 
of Education; chairman of 
Board of Trustees of Green- 
vile school district; chairman 
of Democratic Executive Com¬ 
mittee of Meriwether county; 
has served in a previous legis¬ 
lature. 

Meriwether County 

BION WILLIAMS 
(P. O. Woodbury) 

Born near Warm Springs, 
Ga., in 1868; educated at 


Woodbury High School, Em- 
ory College and Uuniversity 
of Georgia; farmer and mer¬ 
chant; has been mayor of 
Woodbury several times; chair¬ 
man of Board of Trustees of 
Woodbury High School; has 
served in previous legislatures. 

Miller County 

P. D. RICH (P. O. Colquitt) 
Born in Decatur County, 
Ga., September 22, 1879; edu¬ 
cated in Decatur county; law¬ 
yer; solicitor of city court of 
Miller county; mayor of Col¬ 
quitt; president of Colquitt Na^ 
tional Bank. 

Milton County 

WALTER L. BELL 
(P. O. Duluth, R. F. D. 2) 
Born in Milton County, Jan¬ 
uary 29, 1865; educated in the 
common schools and at Emory 
College; farmer; trustee of 
Ninth District Agricultural 
School; has served in previous 
legislatures. 

Mitchell County 

JOHN M. SPENCE 

(P. O. Camilla) 

Born at Camilla, August 17, 
1870; educated at the Camilla 
High School and at the Mili¬ 
tary College at Milledgeville; 
physician; has been mayor of 
Camilla; county phvsician; 
school trustee of Camilla. 

Monroe County 

C. M. TAYLOR 

(P. O. Smarrs) 

Born at Smarrs, February 
16, 1857; educated at Emory 
College; farmer and trader; 
steward in Methodist church. 


APPENDIX 


537 


Murray County 

EUGENE H. BECK 
(P. O. Eton) 

Born in Murray County, 
July 13, 1850; educated in the 
common schools of Georgia 
and at Wesleyan College, 
teacher; has been county 
school commissioner of Lump¬ 
kin County; has served in 
previous legislatures as repre¬ 
sentative of Brooks and Lump¬ 
kin counties; assisted in the 
establishment of the Georgia 
School of Technology and the 
South Georgia Agricultural 
and Normal College at Val¬ 
dosta; has been professor at 
Homer College, Louisiana; is 
now principal of Eton Training 
School; is a trustee of the 
South Georgia Agricultural an 
the North Georgia Aricultural 
College at Dahlonega; has 
been professor at Homer Col¬ 
lege, Lousiana; is now princi¬ 
pal of Eton Training School; 
is a trustee of the South Geor¬ 
gia Agricultural Normal Col¬ 
lege; Mason; Odd Fellow. 

Newton County 

R. W. CAMPBELL 

(P. O. Mansfield) 

Paulding County 

J. B. BAGGETT 
(P. O. Hiram) 

Born in Douglas County, 
1859; educated in common 
schools of Paulding County; 
farmer; has been member of 
County Board of Education 
and Justice of the Peace; for 
12 years was postmaster at 
Hay, Ga. 


Polk County 

L. S. LEDBETTER 
(P. O. Cedartown) 

Born at McDonough, Ga., 
educated in the public schools, 
farmer and insurance agent; 
has been treasurer, alderman, 
recorder and mayor of Cedar- 
town; is a Knight of Honor, 
member of Royal Arcanum, 
Knight of Pythias and Odd 
Fellow; Methodist; was dele¬ 
gate to General Methodist 
Conference in Baltimore in 
1898; has served in a previous 
legislature. 

Pulaski County 

WILLIAM CHANCEY 
(P. O. Hawkinsville) 

Quitman County 

T. W. OLIVER 
(P. O. Georgetown) 
Farmer, Beaver, Woodman 
of the World; Baptist; has 
served in a previous legisla¬ 
ture, 

Randolph County 

W. S. SHORT 

(P. O. Shellman) 

Born in Marion County, 
Ga., March 11, 1875; educated 
at Shellman Institute, mer¬ 
chant and farmer; has been 
mayor of Shellman. 

Richmond County 

J. B. BEALL (P. O. Blythe) 

Schley County 

R. J. PERRY 

Born Schley County, Oc¬ 
tober 7, 1875; educated in rural 
schools, in Andrew Chapel 


538 


APPENDIX 


High School and Bethel Male 
College at Cuthbert; farmer 
and teacher; is a Methodist 
and Knight of Pythias; was 
president of Farmers’ Union 
of Schley County. 

Screven County 

J. H. EVANS 

(P. O. Sylvania) 
Banker; has been member 
of County Board of Educa¬ 
tion; Mason; Baptist; has serv¬ 
ed in a previous legislature. 

Stephens County 

D. H. COLLIER 

(P. O. Toccoa) 

Born Habersham County, 
June 24, 1856; farmer. 

Stewart County 

W. S. BOYETT 

(P. O. Lumpkin) 

Born in Pulaski County, Ga., 
September 22, 1845; educated in 
common schools and at Cot- 
tonhill Academy in Clay coun¬ 
ty; farmer; has been justice of 
the peace; is a member of the 
County Board of Education; 
served four years in the Con¬ 
federate army; Baptist; Ma¬ 
son; has served in a previous 
legislature. 

Sumter County 
J. E. SHEPPARD 

(P. O. Americus) 
Lawyer; president State 
Camp, Patriotic Order Sons 
of America; Mason; Baptist; 
has served in previous legisla¬ 
tures. 

Telfair County 

MATT COOK 
(P. O. Lumber City) 

Born Coffee County in 1859; 


educated in common schools 
of said county; merchant and 
farmer; has been member of 
council and mayor of Lumber 
City; member of school board; 
twice before a member of the 
Georgia Legislature. 

Terrell County 

M. J. YEOMANS 

(P. O. Dawsoti) 

Born in Tattnall County, 
Ga., March 17, 1866; educated 
at the University of Georgia 
and Vanderbilt University; was 
teacher for many years; is now 
a lawyer; has been Solicitor of 
the City Court of Dawson; 
has been vice chairman and 
chairman of the State Demo¬ 
cratic Executive Committee; 
has been superintendent of the 
Dawson public schools. 

Thomas County 

J. A. BOWERS 

CP. O. Meigs) 

Born in Bibb County, Ga., 
July 6, 1876; educated in 

Dodge county; banker, manu¬ 
facturer and farmer; president 
of the Baker County bank; has 
been city councilman of Moul¬ 
trie; has been county commis¬ 
sioner of Baker county; Con¬ 
gressional Committeeman from 
Thomas county; chairman of 
Board of Education of Meigs; 
Methodist. 

H. W. HOPKINS 

(P. O. Thomasville) 

Born Wavnesvile, Ga., Jan¬ 
uary 3, 1856; educated in pri¬ 
vate schools and in the office 
of Judge John L. Hopkins of 
Atlanta; lawyer and real es¬ 
tate man; has been nine times 
mayor of Thomasville; has 
been county solicitor and 


APPENDIX 


539 


judge; has served fourteen 
years in legislature, both in 
the House and the Senate; has 
been president pro tempore of 
the Senate; was the author of 
the Constitutional amendment 
for the election of judges and 
solicitors by the people. 

Toombs County 

ROBERT A. SMITH 

(P. O. Lyons) 

Born near Lyons, December 
1, 1867; educated in rural 

schools; farmer and lumber¬ 
man. 

Towns County 

J. M. RICE 
P. O. Hiawassee) 

Troup County 

H. H. LANE 
(P. O. Mountvile) 

Walton County 

BEN J. EDWARDS 

(P. O. Monroe) 

Born at Monroe in 1859; ed¬ 
ucated at Monroe high school 
and University of Georgia; 
lawyer; has been mayor of 
Monroe; has been clerk of the 
Superior Court of Walton 
county; has been judge of the 
county court of Walton coun¬ 
ty; has served in a previous 
legislature. 

Ware County 

L. J. COOPER 
(P. O. Waycross) 

Born Cool Spring, S. C., De¬ 
cember 1, 1871; educated at 
Mullins Academy, Mullins, S. 
C.; banker; president of First 
National Bank of Waycross; 
was a member of city council 
in Tampa, Fla., moving to 


Georgia in 1910; was a dele¬ 
gate to National Democratic 
Convention in Baltimore in 
1912; was strong supporter of 
tax equalization bill in last 
legislature. 

Warren County 

P. G. VEAZEY 

(P. O. Gibson) 

Born in DeSoto county, 
Miss.; educated in schools of 
Warren County, Ga.; is a 
farmer and minister of Gos¬ 
pel; is a Baptist; was jury re¬ 
visor for six years; has been 
administrator of several es¬ 
tates; is member of Farmers’ 
Union. ’ 

Wheeler County 

J. D. BROWN 

(P. O. Alamo) 

White County 

JOHN B. KING 
(P. O. Leaf) 

Born Habersham County, 
1859; educated in common and 
high schools of said county; 
farmer; was justice of the 
peace in Habersham county 12 
years; is chairman of Board of 
Education of White county; 
Baptist; was a member of 
Farmers’ Alliance and presi¬ 
dent of Farmers’ Union of 
White county. 

Wilcox County 

C. D. McREA 

(P. O. Rochelle) 
Physician and farmer; has 
been mayor of Rochelle; Ma¬ 
son; Knight of Pythias; Pres¬ 
byterian. 


540 


APPENDIX 


Wilkes County 

A. S. ANDERSON 
(P. O. Danburg) 

Born Wilkes County, Sep¬ 
tember 7, 1855; educated Mer¬ 
cer University; merchant and 
farmer. Has been member 
Board of Commission of Roads 
and Revenues of his county; 
also served on County Board 
of Education. 


Wilkinson County 

W. A. JONES 
(P. O. Gordon) 

Worth County 

G. S. SUMMER 
(P. O. Shingler)) 
Physician; farmer; banker; 
vice president of Farmers and 
Merchants Bank of Sylvester; 
Mason; has served in previous 
legislature. 


APPENDIX III 


LIST OF APPOINTMENTS MADE BY 
N. E. HARRIS 


Price Gilbert, Associate Jus¬ 
tice of the Supreme Court. 

O. H. B. Bloodworth, Judge 
of the Court of Appeals. 

Robert Hodges, Judge of the 
Court of Appeals. 

D. W. Krauss, Judge City 
Court Brunswick. 

Henry S. West, Judge City 
Court Athens, July 6, 1915. 

S. C. Upson, Solicitor City 
Court Athens, July 6, 1915. 

Lt. Col. Frederick R. Jones, 
Aide de Camp as Military 
Secretary, July 1, 1915. 

Joel Cloud, Judge City Court 
Lexington, July 8, 1915. 

Miles W. Lewis, Solicitor City 
Court of Greensboro, July 
14, 1915. 


W. T. Dickerson, Solicitor 
City Court of Clinch County 
July 16, 1915. 

C. S. Roberts, of Atlanta, to 
define line between Candler, 
Tattnall and Emanuel, July 
19, 1915. 

B. W. Turnipseed, Judge City 
Court Ft. Gaines, July 19, 
1915. 

P. C. .King, Solicitor City 
Court Ft. Gaines, July 19, 
1915. 

Mrs. W. H. Felton, Carters- 
ville, Member Board of Man¬ 
agers Ga. Training School 
for Girls, July 19, 1915. 

Rev. M. Ashby Jones, D.D., 
Augusta, Ga. Tr. School for 
Girls, July 19, 1915. 

George F. Gober, Marietta; 
Tr. University of Georgia, 
at large, July 26, 1915. 





APPENDIX 


541 


John W. Bennett, Waycross, 
Tr. University of Georgia, 
Dist. 11, July 26, 1915. 

Bowdre Phinizy, Augusta, Tr. 
Univ. of Ga., 10th Dist., July 
26, 1915. 

Hugh J. Rowe, Athens, Tr. 
Univ. of Ga., City of Athens, 
July 26, 1915. 

Howard Thompson, Gaines¬ 
ville, Tr. Univ. of Ga., 9th 
Dist., July 26, 1915. 

G. R. Glenn, Dahlonega, State 
Board of Education, July 27, 
1915. 

T. J. Woofter, Dahlonega, 
State Board of Education, 
July 27, 1915. 

B. E. Thrasher, Judge County 
Court Oconee, Aug. 4, 1915. 

Andrew J. Cobb, Athens, Tr. 
Univ. of Ga., 8th Dist. Aug. 
5, 1915. 

George Foster Peabody, N. Y., 
Tr. Univ. of Ga., Aug. 5, 
1915. 

Milton C. Barwick, Judge City 
Court of Louisville, Aug. 10, 
1915. 

John R. Phillips, Solicitor City 
Court of Louisville, Aug. 10, 
1915. 

H. W. Nelson, Sol. Co. Court 
of Echols, Aug. 10, 1915. 

G. E. Maddox, Rome, Tr. 
Univ. of Georgia, 7th Dist., 
Aug. 11, 1915. 

Charles S. Arnow, St. Marys, 
State Com. Game and Fish, 
Aug. 24, 1915. 

J. R. McFarland, Rossville, 
Bd. of Visitors, Ga. School 
for Deaf, Aug. 25, 1915. 


A. A. Lawrence, Savannah, 
Bd. of Visitors, Ga. School 
for Deaf, Aug. 25, 1915. 

J. F. Holden, Crawfordville, 
Bd. of Visitors, Ga. School 
for Deaf, Aug. 25, 1915. 

E. H. Griffin, Bainbridge, Bd. 
of Visitors, Ga. School for 
Deaf, Aug. 25, 1915. 

M. J. Yeomans, Dawson, Bd. 
of Visitors, Ga. School for 
Deaf, Aug. 25, 1915. 

G. M. Jones, Newnan, Bd. of 
Visitors, Ga. School for 

Deaf, Aug. 25, 1915. 

L. J. Steele, Decatur, Bd. of 
Visitors, Ga. School for 

Deaf, Aug. 25, 191. 

T. R. Ayer, Macon, Bd. of 
Visitors, Ga. School for 

Deaf, Aug. 2, 1915. 

L. C. Brown, Athens, Bd. of 
Visitors, Ga. School for 

Deaf, Aug. 25, 1915. 

L. Roberts, Gainesville, Bd. of 
Visitors Ga. School for 

Deaf, Aug. 25, 1915. 

J. P. Knight, Nashville, Bd. of 
Visitors, Ga. School for 

Deaf, Aug. 25, 1915. 

T. D. Walker, Sr., Cochran, 
Bd. of Visitors, Ga. School 
for Deaf, Aug. 25, 1915. 

J. K. Hines, Atlanta, Attorney 
R. R. Commission, Aug. 28, 
1915. 

Dr. F. F. Jones, Macon, Ost. 
Bd. of Exam., Aug. 30, 1915. 

Dr. F. M. Ridley, LaGrange, 
Regular School, State Bd. 
Med. Exam, Aug. 30, 1915. 

Dr. A. F'. White, Flovilla, Eel. 
School, State Bd. Med. Ex¬ 
am., Aug. 30, 1915. 


542 


APPENDIX 


Dr. R. E. Hinman, Atlanta, 
Horn. School, State Bd. Med. 
Exam., Aug. 30, 1915. 

S. H. Titshaw, Lyons, 1st 
Dist. School, Med. Dept. U. 
of Ga., Sept. 18, 1915. 

R. W. Wimberly, Ft. Gaines, 
2nd Dist. School, Med. Dept. 
U. of Ga., Sept. 18, 1915. 

W. J. Ford, Sylvester, 2nd 
Dist. School, Med. Dept. U. 
of Ga, Sept. 18, 1915. 

Dr. W. E. Thomason, Texas, 
4th Dist. School Med. Dept. 
U. of Ga., Sept. 18, 1915. 

R. T. Park, Newnan, 4th Dist. 
School Med. Dept. U. of 
Ga., Sept. 18. 1915. 

Lee Reeves, Carrollton, 4th 
Dist. School Med. Dept. U. 
of Ga., Sept 18, 1915. 

Jones Weems, Eatonton, 8th 
Dist. School Med. Dept. U. 
of Ga., Sept. 18, 1915. 

Lamar Craft, Elberton, 8th 
Dist. School Med. Dept. U. 
of Ga., Sept. 18, 1915. 

H. S Cantrell, Cornelia, 9th. 
Dist. School Med. Dept. U. 
of Ga., Sept. 18, 1915. 

H. C. Chilson, Alpharetta, 9th 
Dist. School Med. Dept. U. 
of Ga., Sept. 18, 1915. 

Lamar Harris, Wrightsville, 
11th Dist. School Med. Dept. 
U. of Ga., Sept. 18, 1915. 

J. Houston Johnston, Atlanta, 
Eng. Val. W. & A. R. R., 
Sept. 18, 1915. 

Miss Jane Van DeVrede, Sa¬ 
vannah, State Bd. Exam. Tr. 
Nurses, Sept. 23, 1915. 

Miss Bertha E. Whatley, Au¬ 
gusta, State Bd. Exam. Tr. 
Nurses, Sept. 23, 1915. 


L. B. Hunt, Macon, State Bd. 
Barber Exam, Oct. 1, 1915. 

J. E. McGee, Dahlonega, Tr. 
N. Ga. Agricul. College, Oct. 
11, 1915. 

J. H. Oliphant, Augusta, Bd. 
Vet. Exam., Oct 29, 1915. 

E. L. Murray, Americus, State 
Bd. of Pharmacy, Nov. 14, 
1915. 

Clarence T. Guyton, Guyton, 
Sol. City Court of Spring- 
field, Oct. 9, 1915. 

H. A. Adams, Elberton, Tr. 
8th Dist. Agricul. College, 
Oct. 12, 1915. 

J. C. Williams, Greensboro, 
Director State Med. College, 
Nov. 15, 1915. 

L. F. McClelland, Atlanta, 
Judge Municipal Court, Dec. 
1, 1195. 

T. O. Hathcock, Atlanta, Judge 
Municipal Court, Dec. 1, 
1915. 

Bell & Ellis, Atlanta, Collec¬ 
tors Near Beer Taxes, Ful¬ 
ton Co., Dec. 4, 1915. 

Albert Goette, Savannah, Bd. 
of Embalmers, Dec. 8, 1915. 

Geo. Ogden Persons, Forsyth, 
Representative of the Gov¬ 
ernor at General Governors’ 
meeting, Charleston, Dec. 9, 
1915. 

T. R. Isbell, Toccoa, Registrar 
City of Toccoa, Dec. 28, 
1915. 

Charles J. Metz, Atlanta, Au¬ 
ditor State Departments, 
Dec. 28, 1915. 

Richard Johnson, Gray, Tr. 
Georgia State Sanitarium, 
Dec. 6, 1915. 


APPENDIX 


543 


H. H. Dean, Gainesville, Tr. 
Georgia State Sanitarium, 
Dec. 6, 1915. 

Dr. Thos. R. Wright, Augusta, 
Tr. Ga. State Sanitarium, 
Dec. 6, 1915. 

P. H. Gambrell, Macon, Tr. Ga. 
State Sanitarium, Dec. 6, 
1915. 

E. E. Lindsey, Rome, Tr. Ga. 
State Sanitarium, Dec. 6, 
1915. 

John T. Brantley, Blackshear, 
Tr. Ga. State Sanitarium, 
Dec. 6, 1915. 

Dr. J. C. Jarnagin, Warren- 
ton, Tr. Ga. State Sanitarium, 
Dec. 6, 1915. 

Henry Banks, LaGrange, Tr. 
Ga. State Sanitarium, Dec. 
6, 1915. 

C. C. Brantley, Valdosta, Tr. 
Ga. State Sanitarium, Dec. 
6, 1915. 

A. C. Newell, Atlanta, Tr. Ga. 
State Sanitarium, Dec. 6, 
1915. 

Wilkie C. Brown, Savannah, 
Near Beer Tax Collector, 
Jan. 3, 1916. 

Dr. L. G. Hardman, Com¬ 
merce, Dir. Ga. Exper. Sta., 
9th Dist, Jan. 3, 1916. 

A. S. Chamblee, Bartow, Dir. 
Ga. Exper. Sta., 10th Dist., 
Jan. 3, 1916. 

J. J. Brown, Bowman, Com¬ 
mittee of 15 on Prepared¬ 
ness, Dec. 1, 1915. 

John D. Walker, Sparta, Com¬ 
mittee of 15 on Prepared¬ 
ness, Dec. 1, 1915. 

Mell R. Wilkinson, Atlanta, 
Committee of 15 on Prepar¬ 
edness, Dec. 1, 1915. 


Sami. M. Jackson, Savannah, 
Committee of 15 on Prepar¬ 
edness, Dec. 1, 1915. 

John A. Brice, Atlanta, Com¬ 
mittee of 15 on Preparedness, 
Dec. 1, 1915. 

R. L. Carithers, Winder, Com¬ 
mittee of 15 on Prepared¬ 
ness, Dec. 1, 1915. 

F. S. Etheridge, Jackson, 
Committee of 15 on Prepar¬ 
edness, Dec. 1, 1915. 

Rev. B. D. Gray, Atlanta, 
Committee of 15 on Pre¬ 
paredness, Dec. 1, 1915. 

Chas. A. Barrett, Union City, 
Committee of 15 on Prepar¬ 
edness, Dec. 1, 1915. 

Jas. D. Price, Atlanta, Com¬ 
mittee of 15 on Prepared¬ 
ness, Dec. 1, 1915. 

R. N. Randolph, Atlanta, Com¬ 
mittee of 15 on Prepared¬ 
ness, Dec. 1, 1915. 

S. T. Blalock, Fayetteville, 
Committee of 15 on Prepar¬ 
edness, Dec. 1, 1915. 

J. N. King, Rome, Committee 
of 15 on Preparedness, Dec. 
1, 1915. 

J. Rice Smith, Augusta, Com¬ 
mittee of 15 on Prepared¬ 
ness, Dec. 1, 1915. 

T. F. Johnson, Jefferson, Com¬ 
mittee of 15 on Prepared¬ 
ness, Dec. 1, 1915. 

W. H. Davis, Waynesboro, 
Director G. N. I. C., Jan. 6, 
1916. 

Z. H Clark, Moultrie, Director 

G. N. I. C., Jan. 6, 1916. 

Rev. Rutherford E. Douglas, 
Macon, Tr. Ga. School for 
Deaf. Jan. 17, 1916. 


544 


APPENDIX 


Dr. W. H. Doughty, Jr., Au¬ 
gusta, State Bd. of Health, 
Jan. 17, 1916. 

Dr. J. D. Weaver, Eatonton, 
State Bd. of Health, Jan. 17, 
1916. 

Capt. F. D. Bloodworth, Sa¬ 
vannah, Tr. Ga. Soldiers’ 
Home, Jan. 27, 1916. 

Capt. Chas. P. Hansell, Thom- 
asville, Tr. Ga. Soldiers’ 
Home, Jan. 27, 1916. 

Gen. H. T. Davenport, Ameri- 
cus, Tr. Ga. Soldiers’ Home, 
Jan. 27, 1916. 

Judge J. F. C. Williams, Ham¬ 
ilton, Tr. Ga. Soldiers’ Home, 
Jan. 27, 1916. 

Frank M. Myers, Atlanta, Tr. 
Ga. Soldiers’ Home, Jan. 27, 
1916. 

Col C. M. Wiley, Macon, Tr. 
Ga. Soldiers’ Home, Jan. 27, 
1916. 

R. D. T. Lawrence, Marietta, 
Tr. Ga. Soldiers’ Home, Jan. 
27, 1916. 

Judge Fred Foster, Madison, 
Tr. Ga. Soldiers’ Home, Jan. 
27, 1916. 

Capt. H. W. Bell, Jefferson, 
Tr. Ga. Soldiers’ Home, Jan. 
27, 1916. 

Maj. C. E. McGregor, War- 
renton, Tr. Ga. Soldiers’ 
Home, Jan. 27, 1916. 

Judge J. L. Sweat, Waycross, 
Tr. Ga. Soldiers’ Home, Jan. 
27, 1916. 

J. C. C. Black, Jr., Augusta, 
Judge C. C. Richmond Coun¬ 
ty, Jan. 27, 1916. 

Wm. Inman Curry, Augusta, 
Sol. C. C. Richmond Coun¬ 
ty, Jan. 28, 1916. 


T. D. Howard, Milledgeville, 
Sol. Co. Court Baldwin, Feb. 
2, 1916. 

Jos. N. Worley, Elberton, 
Judge S. C. Northern Cir¬ 

cuit, Jan. 1, 1917. 

Walter C. Bryan, Douglas, 
Judge C. C. of Douglas, Mar. 
28, 1917. 

Wm. T. Anderson, Macon, 
Trustee 6th Dist. A. *&. M. 
School, Sept. 22, 1918. 

Fred Lewis, Atlanta, Delegate 
Conference on National 

Strength and Efficiency, 
Wash. May 2, 3, 4, 1916, 

Apr. 24, 1916. 

W. B. Hunter, Cornelia, Dele¬ 
gate Conference on National 
Strength and Efficiency, 
Wash. May 2, 3, 4, 1916, 

April 2, 1916. 

L. W. Robert, Atlanta, Sur¬ 
vey and Fix Line between 
Bulloch and Evans Counties, 
May 29, 1916. 

Rev. G. A. Nunnally, D.D., 
Rome, Bd. Visitors U. of 
Ga., May 15, 1916. 

Col. O. R. Horton, Milledge¬ 
ville, Bd. Visitors U. of Ga., 
May 15, 1916. 

Prof. W. S. Sewell, Tennille, 
Bd. Visitors U. of Ga., May 
15, 1916. 

Prof. Paul R. Anderson, Blake¬ 
ly, Bd. Visitors U. of Ga., 
May 15, 1916. 

Supt. E. H. Hanby, Cuthbert, 
Bd. Visitors U. of Ga., May 
15, 1916. 

Capt. Jno. P. Webb, Gwin¬ 
nett, Tr. Ga. Soldiers’ Home, 
8th Dist, June 1, 1916. 


APPENDIX 


545 


Dupont Guerry, Macon, Judge 
City Court Macon, June 2, 
1916. 

E. S. Griffith, Buchanan, Au¬ 
dit Inspector in re Tenn. 
Copper Co., June 26, 1916. 

C. C. Anderson, Macon, Sur¬ 
vey dividing line between 
Pulaski, Houston, and Pu¬ 
laski and Blakely, June 27. 
1916. 

Doyle Campbell, Jasper, Sol. 
Gen. Ocmulgee Circuit, July 
1, 1916. 

Eb. T. Williams, Atlanta, Sol. 
Gen. Atlanta Cir., July 1, 
1916. 

T. J. Brown, McDonough, 
Judge Co. Court Henry Co., 
July 5, 1916. 

Paul Turner, McDonough, Sol. 
County Court Henry Co., 
July 5, 1916. 

Wilmer L. Moore, Atlanta, 
Trustee Ga. Tr. School for 
Girls, July 5, 1916. 

Judge W. H .Davis, Waynes¬ 
boro, Trustee Ga. Tr. School 
for Girls, July 5, 1916. 

Mrs. Z. I. Fitzpatrick, Thom- 
asville, Trustee Ga. Tr. 
School for Girls, July 5, 1916. 

F. J. Ralf, Messenger Exec. 
Dept., July 5, 1916. 

Watt Harris, Milner, Sol. City 
Court of Cartersville, July 
5, 1916. 

Alfred H. Crovatt, Sol. City 
Court of Brunswick, July 5, 
1916. 

St. Elmo Massengale, Del. So. 

Forestry Con., July 8, 1916. 

J. Fleming Bloodworth, Sol. 
Co. Court Wijkinsgn, July 
8, 1916, 


Mrs. Maud Barker Cobb, State 
Librarian, July 26, 1916. 

C. F. Lanier, Millen, Schol¬ 
arship Med. Dept. U. of Ga., 
July 29, 1916. 

Myron R. Leard, Canon, Schol¬ 
arship Med. Dept U. of Ga., 
July 29, 1916. 

C. A. West, Warrant and Rec¬ 
ord Clerk, Exec. Dept. July 
31, 1916. 

E. J. Bondurant, Athens, Tr. 
State Normal School, Ath¬ 
ens, Aug. 14, 1916. 

W. J. Morton, Tr. State Nor¬ 
mal School, Athens, Aug. 
14, 1916. 

A. B. Green, Ft. Valley, Tr. 
State Normal School, Ath¬ 
ens, Aug. 14, 1916. 

J. M. Collum, Americus, Tr. 
State Normal School, Ath¬ 
ens, Aug. 14, 1916. 

H. Y. McCord, Atlanta, Tr. 
State Normal School, Ath¬ 
ens, Aug. 14, 1916. 

E. S. Griffith, Buchanan, Tr. 
State Normal School, Ath¬ 
ens, Aug. 14, 1916. 

E. A. Copeland, Greensboro, 
Tr. State Normal School, 
Athens, Aug. 14, 1916. 

L. B. Evans, Augusta, Tr. 
State Normal School, Ath¬ 
ens, Aug. 14, 1916. 

A. C. Riley, Ft. Valley, Judge 
County Court of Houston 
County, Aug. 14, 1916. 

Robt. E. Brown, Sol. County 
Court of Houston County, 
Aug. 14, 1916. 

Geo. Gilmore, Washington Co., 
Tr. State Agricultural Col., 
Aug. 14, 1916, 


546 


APPENDIX 


Jno. W. Bennett, Ware Co., 
Tr. State Agricultural Col., 
Aug 14, 1916. 

R. C. Neely, Burke County, Tr. 
State Agricultural Col., Aug. 
14, 1916. 

L. L. McMullan, Hart Coun¬ 
ty, Tr. State Agricultural 
Col., Aug. 14, 1916. 

Lawrence McCalla, Scholar¬ 
ship Med. Dept. U. of Ga., 
Aug. 16, 1916. 

Capt. Jno. A. Cobb, Americus, 
State Bd. of Entomology, 
Agri., Aug. 15, 1916. 

R. C. Berckmans, Augusta, 
State Bd. of Entomology, 
Hort., Aug. 15, 1916. 

W. D. Tutt, Judge City Q?urt 
of Elbert, Aug. 16, 1916. 

Dr. D. D. Atkinson, Bruns¬ 
wick, State Bd. of Dental 
Exam, Aug. 26, 1916. 

V. H. McMichael, 3rd Dist, 
Scholarship Med. Dept. U. 
of Ga., Aug. 26, 1916. 

J. L. Pendley, Athens, State 
Bd. of Optometry, Sept. 6, 
1916. 

W. R. Wilson, Douglas, State 
Board of Optometry, §ept. 
6, 1916. 

Geo. B. Wood, Rome, State 
Bd. of Optometry, Sept. 6, 
1916. 

C. E. Folsom, Atlanta, State 
Bd. of Optometry, Sept. 6, 
1916. 

J. H. Spratling, Macon, State 
Bd. of Optometry, Sept. 6, 
1916. 

A. L. Miller, Edison, Judge 
City Court of Morgan, Sept. 
13, 1916. 


Clarence J. Taylor, Sol. City 
Court of Morgan, Sept. 13, 
1916. 

Geo. P. Munro, Buena Vista, 
J. S. C. Chattahoochee Cir., 
Sept. 14, 1916. 

Dr. N. Peterson, Tifton, State 
Bd. Med. Exam. (Reg. Sch.) 
Sept. 16, 1916. 

Dr. O. B. Walker, Bowman, 
State Bd. Med. Exam. (Elec. 
Sch.), Sept. 16, 1916. 

S. D. Dell, Judge City Court 
of Hazlehurst, Sept. 16, 
1916. 

Rufus H. Baker, Dahlonega, 
Trustee N. Ga. Agri. Col., 
Sept. 28, 1916. 

Delegates to Conference on 
Social Work at Macon, Oct. 
27, 28, 29, 1916—Sept. 30, 1916: 
Judge H. A. Matthews, Ma¬ 
con. 

Judge W. W. Tindall, At¬ 
lanta. 

J. C. Logan, Atlanta. 

W. C. Vereen, Moultrie. 
Robt. B. McCord, Atlanta. 
Rev. W. N. Ainsworth, Ma¬ 
con. 

Mrs. Z. I. Fitzpatrick, Thom- 
asville. 

Miss Agnes McKenna, Val¬ 
dosta. 

Miss Celeste Parrish, At¬ 
lanta. 

Geo. L. Goode, Carnesville, 
Judge City Court of Carnes¬ 
ville, Oct. 4, 1916. 

B. A. Hafper, Argyle, Judge 
County Court Clinch Co., 
Oct. 9, 1916. 

R. W. Jemison, Macon, Mem¬ 
ber Ga. State Bd. of Public 
Accounts, Oct. 9, 1916. 


547 


APPENDIX 


Harold Hirsch, Atlanta, Mem¬ 
ber Ga. State Bd. of Public 
Accounts, Oct. 9, 1916. 

W. S. Elkin, Jr., Atlanta, Mem¬ 
ber Ga. State Bd. of Phmcy., 
Oct. 11, 1916. 

W. W. Jones, Columbus, Mem¬ 
ber Ga. State Bd. of Barber 
Exam., Oct. 13, 1916. 

Liston Volney Williams, Way- 
cross, Arbitrator Tenn. Cop¬ 
per Co., Oct. 25, 1916. 

John W. Callahan, Bainbridge, 
Trustee State Agri. College, 
Oct. 26, 1916. 

Miss Mamie Mobley, Atlanta, 
State Bd. of Exam, of 
Nurses. 

Miss Louise Hazlehurst, Ma¬ 
con, State Bd. of Exam, of 
Nurses. 

J. L. C. Kerr, Decatur, Cap¬ 
tain of the Guard, Oct. 30, 
1916. 

Hon. James Beall, Carrollton, 
Trustee 4th Dist. A. & M. 
School, Nov. 2, 1916. 

Dr. M. C. Hardin, Atlanta, 
Member State Bd. of Osteo¬ 
pathic Exam., Nov. 9, 1916. 

Dr. Chas. E. Lorenz, Colum¬ 
bus, Member State Bd. of 
Osteopathic Exam., Nov. 9, 
1916. 

St. Elmo Massengale, Atlanta, 
Member W. & A. R. R. 
Commission, Nov. 11, 1916. 

Dr. B. C. Teasley, Hartwell, 
Member State Bd. of Health, 
Nov. 13, 1916. 

Dr. W. B. Crawford, Lincoln- 
ton, Tr. 10th Dist. A. & M. 
School, Nov. 17, 1916. 

John T. Boifeuillet, Macon, 
Railroad Commission, Nov. 
21, 1916. 


W. S. Lazenby, Harlem, Tr. 
10th Dist. A. & M. School, 
Nov. 25, 1916. 

H. Lester Marvil, Waycross, 
Mem. Ga. State Bd. of Em- 
balmers, Dec. 6, 1916. 

W. A. Scott, Columbus, Mem. 
State Bd. Vet. Exam., Dec. 

11, 1916. 

D. A. R. Crum, Cordele, 
Judge Superior Court Cor¬ 
dele Cir., Dec. 12, 1916. 

W. W. Bennett, Baxley, Judge 
City Court of Baxley, Dec. 

12, 1916. 

Dr. H. J. Williams, Macon, 
Mem. State Bd. of Health, 
Dec. 15, 1916. 

Dr. A. L. Crittenden, Shell- 
man, Mem. State Bd. of 
Health, Dec. 15, 1916. 

John Allen Fort, Americus, 
Sol. Gen. S. W. Cir., Jan. 
2, 1917. 

S. C Parkinson, Norfolk, Va., 
Comm, of Deeds for Ga. in 
Va., Jan. 2, 1917. 

Capt. T. L. Norman, Trustee 
Ga. Soldiers’ Home (Dist.), 
Jan. 2, 1917. 

T. R. Mann, Jacksonville, 
(12th Dist.) Mem. Bd. Direc¬ 
tors Ga. Exp. Sta., Jan. 10, 
1917. 

W. D. Hiammack, Coleman-, 
(3rd. Dist.) Mem. Bd. Direc¬ 
tors Ga. Exp. Sta., Jan. 10, 
1917. 

Wm. Anderson, Ocilla, (11th 
Dist.) Mem. Bd. Directors 
Ga. Exp. Sta., Jan. 10, 1917. 
Craig R. Arnold, Dahlonega, 
Trustee 9th Dist. A. & M. 
School, Jan. 16, 1917. 

C. L. Cowart, Sol. City Court 
of Reidsville, Jan. 17, 1917, 


548 


APPENDIX 


Andrew J. Cobb, Athens, Judge 
Sup. Court Western Circuit, 
Jan. 17, 1917. 

H. G. Lewis, Greensboro, 
Judge City Court of Greens¬ 
boro, Jan. 26, 1917. 

Order entering N. C. & St. 

L. Ry. as party proposing to 
lease W. & A. Ry., Feb. 7, 
1917. 

Trustees State Tuberculosis 
Sanitarium, Feb. 12, 1917: 
Dr. Craig Barrow, Savannah. 
Rev: Graham, Forrester, Sa¬ 
vannah. 

Hon. W. A. Buchanan, 
Blakely. 

Dr. W. H. Hendricks, Tif- 
ton. 

Dr. C. H. Richardson, Ogle¬ 
thorpe. 

Hon. Lee G. Council, Amer- 
icus. 

Dr. C. A. Dexter, Colum¬ 
bus. 

T. H. Persons, Talbotton. 
Jos. A. McCord, Atlanta. 

Dr. T. R. Whitley, Douglas- 
ville. 

Dr. M. A. Clark, Macon. 

M. H. Sandwick, Thomas- 
ton. 

S. P .Maddox, Dalton. 

Dr. Howard E. Felton, Car- 
tersville. 

Dr. J. H. Goss, Athens. 

Dr. W. I. Hailey, Hartwell. 
Dr. Jeff Davis, Toccoa. 

J. N. McClure, Duluth. 

Dr. W. D. Jennings, Jr., 
Augusta. 

Dr. D. E. McMaster, Ten- 
nile. 

Dr. J. iP: Prescott, Lake 
Park. 

Dr. Gordon Burns, Douglas. 
John S. Adams, Dublin. 

Dr. J. M. Nunez, Swainsboro. 


J. J. Brown, Bowman, Com¬ 
missioner of Agriculture, 
Feb. 14, 1917. 

Gen. Peter W. Meldrin, Sa¬ 
vannah, Judge Sup. Ct. E. 
Cir., Feb. 16, 1917. 

Thos. H. Crawford, Blue 
Ridge, Arb. Tenn. Copper 
Company, Feb. 20, 1917. 

E. S. Griffith, Buchanan, Inspr. 
Tenn. Copper Co., Feb. 21, 
1917. 

Dr. Douglas B. Mayes, Ameri- 
cus, Tr. State Tuberculosis 
San., Feb. 28, 1917. 

Geo. H. Aubrey, Cartersville, 
Judge City Court Carters¬ 
ville, Feb. 28, 1917. 

Col. Asa G. Candler, Atlanta, 
to attend Gov. Conf. in 
Washington, Mar. 1, 1917. 

Dr. J. R. Beall, Blythe, Tr. 
Ga. Tuberculosis Sanitarium, 
Mar. 28, 1917. 

Proclamation appointing Ga. 
Council on Food and Agricul¬ 
tural mobilization: 

J. J. Brown, Chm., Atlanta. 
H. G. Hastings, Atlanta. 

J. H Mills, Jenkinsburg 
J. D. Weaver, Dawson. 

R. C. Berckmans, Augusta. 
T. M. Swift, Elberton. 

A. P. Brantley, Blackshear. 
Louis P. Marguardt, Atlanta. 
Mrs. W. L. Peel, Atlanta. 
Mrs. Nellie Peters Black, At¬ 
lanta. 

Mrs. Eugene Heard, Middle- 
ton. 

Proclamation on National 
Guard, April 21, 1917. 

J. J. Brown, appointed to at¬ 
tend conference on Food and 
Fuel Supply and price, call- 


549 


APPENDIX 


ed by Fed. Trade Com. for 
April 30, April 27, 1917. 

L. B. Jaekson, appointed to at¬ 
tend conference on Food and 
Fuel Supply and price, call¬ 
ed by Fed. Trade Com. for 
April 30, April 27, 1917. 

The Governor, appointed to 
attend National Def. Conf., 
Washington, May 2, 1917, 
April 28, 1817. 

Lt. Col. F. R. Jones, appoint¬ 
ed to attend National Def. 
Conf., Washington, May 2, 
1917, April 28, 1917. 

Adjutant General designated to 
represent Governor in su¬ 
pervision of military regis¬ 
tration, May 7, 1917. 

Carl A. Edwards, Pembroke, 
Sol. Co. Court of Bryan Co., 
May 10, 1917. 

H. J. Lawrence, Baxley, Judge 
City Court of Baxley, May 
10, 1917. 

Clark Howell, Dixie Highway 
Commission, April 12, 1917. 

W. T. Anderson, Dixie High¬ 
way Commission, April 12, 
1917. 

N. C. & St. L. Ry. entered as 
corporation leasing W. & A. 

R. R. Lease executed and en¬ 
tered May 11, 1917. 

W. L. Converse, Valdosta, Tr. 

S. Ga. State Normal Col¬ 
lege, May 14, 1917. 

Dr. K. G. Matheson, Atlanta, 
State Council of Defense, 
May 15, 1917. 

H. R. Hunt, Powder Springs, 
Bd. of Visitors Univ. of Ga. 
1917, May 26, 1917. 

J. W. Farmer, Augusta, Bd. 
of Visitors Univ. of Ga. 1917, 
May 26, 1917. 


A. G. Miller, Waycross, Bd. 
of Visitors Univ. of Ga. 
1917, May 26, 1917. 

Geo. E. Usher, Adel, Bd. of 
Visitors Univ. of Ga. 1917, 
May 26, 1917. 

Ralph Newton, Ft. Valley, Bd. 
of Visitors Univ. of Ga. 1917, 
May 26, 1917. 

Committee to lay before 

Natl. Gov. needs of people of 
State in respect of commercial 
fertilizers, May 28, 1917: 

J. H. Hall, Macon. 

J. H. Mills, Jenkinsburg 

T. S. Johnson, Jefferson. 

T. M. Swift, Elberton. 

Chas. E. Stewart, Axson. 
Associate • members State 
Council on Food Production 
and Conservation: 

From State at large: 

R. R. Wright, Pres. Ga. 
State Ind. Col., Savannah, 
Chairman. 

Bishop R. S. Williams, Au¬ 
gusta. 

Prof. W. E. Holmes, Pres. 
Gen. City Col. Macon, Secre¬ 
tary. 

Dr. Whittier H. Wright, 
Physician, Savannah, Asst. 
Secretary. 

Dr. J. W. Holley, Prin. Al¬ 
bany Bible Ind. Inst., Albany, 
Treasurer. 

H. L. Johnson, Atlanta. 
Bishop J. S. Flippen, At¬ 
lanta. 

M. W. Reddick, Americus. 
T. K. Gibson, Atlanta. 

C. T. Walker, Augusta. 

H. A. Hunt, Ft. Valley. 
From 1st Dist: Walter B. 
Scott, Savannah. 


550 


APPENDIX 


From 2nd Dist: A. C. Coop¬ 
er, Cuthbert. 

From 3rd Dist. J. C. Styles, 
Dawson. 

From 4th Dist. Rev. F. R. 
Forbes, Macon. 

From 5th Dist. Rev. H. H. 
Proctor, Atlanta. 

From 6th Dist: C. E. Moore, 
Macon. 

From 7th Dist. D. R. Brown, 
Cedartown. 

From 8th Dist: Dr. W. H. 
Harris, Athens. 

From 9th Dist: Dr. N. A. 
Doyle, Gainesville. 

From 10th Dist: Prof. Silas 
X. Floyd, Augusta. 

From 11th Dist: C. A. Clark, 
Brunswick. 

From 12th Dist: H. T. Jones, 
Dublin. 

Local Board of Trustees, Alex¬ 
ander H. Stephens Insti¬ 
tute, June 4, 1917: 

J. A. Beasley, Crawfordville, 
2 years beginning June 4, 
1917. 

Clem G. Moore, Crawford¬ 
ville, 4 years beginning June 
4, 1917. 

Jno. F. Holden, Crawfordville, 
6 years beginning June 4, 
1917. 

W. H. Burwell, from State at 


Large, 6 years beginning 
June 4, 1917. 

Samuel L. Olive, from State at 
Large, 2 years beginning 
June 4, 1917. 

Horance M. Holden, from 
State at Large, 4 years be¬ 
ginning June 4, 1917. 

W. G. Fleming, Augusta, 10th 
Dist, Tr. State Normal Col., 
June 14, 1917. 

Correspondence designating 
Jno. C. Hart to represent 
State in collecting inheritance 
taxes, Dec. 2, 1915. 

Appointing J. C. Hart in re 
J. M. Smith estate, Feb. 26, 
1916. 

Calvin W. Parker, Waycross, 
referee Tenn. Copper Co.. 
June 28, 1917. 

Frederick B. Gordon, Colum¬ 
bus, State Council of Def. 
State at Large, June 29, 1917. 
T. L. Pickren, of Charlton Co., 
Tr. 11th Dist. A. &. M. 
School, June 28, 1917. 

C. S. Meadows, Wayne Co., 
Tr. 11th Dist. A. & M. 
School, June 28, 1917. 

J. H. Roberts, Dodge Co., Tr. 
11th Dist. A. & M. School, 
June 28, 1917. 

Mrs. J. L. Kendal, Macon, 
Lady Bd. Visitors Ga. Nor¬ 
mal & Industrial College. 
June 29. 1917. 



































































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